Our new Governor-General...

I have to say that I was very disappointed with the new Governor-General, Michaelle Jean. It really appears she was chosen for who she is, rather than for what she has done. In an op-ed in today's National Post, Father Raymond J. De Souza questions this version of diversity.

But, of course, Madame Jean is strikingly similar to her predecessor, Adrienne Clarkson. Who would have thought the ranks of CBC broadcasters were so deep as to be able to provide two successive governors-general? Imagine if two successive governors-general were chosen from the oil-patch, let alone from the same company. Or from the Canadian Cattleman's Association. Or from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. Of course you can't imagine it - it is simply impossible.

So we have two women who work for the same company, share the same general outlook of the CBC, and for good measure, are both married to generally leftish intellectuals. There is no reason why someone like that shouldn't be governor-general. But it is a little much to have two back-to-back and hail it as a move toward diversity. Replacing a Toronto-based CBCX broadcaster with a Montreal-based one hardly qualifies.

But as her appointment indicates, diversity is narrowly defined. Madame Jean is a black Haitian. Madame Clarkson is a Hong Kong Chinese. Romeo LeBlanc is an Acadian. Diversity marches on, but is there any appreciable difference in how any of them think? The ironly is that diversity now means only race and colour and ethnicity - it is no longer about bringing different perspectives forward.