Governor General Michaelle Jean arrives and her daughter Marie-Eden for the Lifetime Artistic Achievement awards in the Performing Arts, gala at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Saturday, May 3, 2008.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand
OTTAWA - Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean is off to France this week on a five-day official visit at the invitation of President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Statements issued jointly Sunday by Rideau Hall and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office said the trip is intended in part to underline the significance of this year's 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City.
Jean, who will arrive in Paris on Tuesday, will meet with Sarkozy, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon and other dignitaries.
She will participate with Sarkozy in ceremonies Thursday in Ouistreham, Normandy marking the 63rd anniversary of V-E Day, and will visit Canadian war graves in Beny-sur-Mer with the French president.
The Governor General will go on the same day to La Rochelle for festivities related to the sailing of French settlers for Quebec in the 17th century.
She will be in Bordeaux on Friday and Saturday, meeting with Mayor Alain Juppe and participating in a roundtable with French and Canadian academics. The Haitian-born Jean will also deliver a speech commemorating the anniversary of the abolition of slavery on French territory.
She will be accompanied on the trip by her husband, French-born filmmaker Jean-Daniel Lafond.
The visit will serve to reinforce the "historic ties between Canada and France," as well as the common values they share, said the statement issued by the Governor General's office.
Harper, for his part, called 2008 a "significant year" for bilateral relations between the two countries. Canada is to host the international francophone summit later this year, as well as the Canada-European Union Summit. France currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU.
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Article online since May 4th 2008, 0:00
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