by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
February 24, 2005
When Jeremy Patfield and his junior high school class went to visit Rideau Hall, the residence of Canada’s Governor-General, the 15-year-old got more than he bargained for. The last thing you expect to see in a residence such as Rideau Hall that is open to the public is its inhabitant walking down the hall, but that was exactly what happened. When Jeremy saw Her Excellency down the hall, he asked the tour guide, "Is that the lady who spends money on the Queen when she comes?" Then all hell broke loose. The tour guide did any what any public servant in the land of the tolerant would do; he threw the entire class out of Rideau Hall for daring to criticize Her Excellency now matter how nonsensical his question had been.
The Governor-General did not hear Jeremy’s question, but to her credit, when she found out what had happened she telephoned the teen and apologized. She then invited Jeremy and his family to have tea with her the next time that they are in the nation’s capital (that gesture touched us all; especially in the pocketbook). although Jeremy was never suspended from school for his conduct on that day, suspension was talked about. at the time when it appeared that he was or would in fact be suspended from school for asking a politically incorrect question, Clarkson suggested that he write a 1,000 word essay on the role of the Governor-General in Canada and he could give the essay to her when he next visits. Clarkson assured the student that it would not be difficult to do the essay as all the information that he needs to have is available on the Governor-General’s website.
Needless to say there was a lot of criticism about the incident at Rideau Hall. Some criticism was levelled at Jeremy for asking such an impertinent question, but most was reserved for the tour guide who perhaps would be happier if he moved to Zimbabwe and went to work for Bobby Mugabe. But there was virtually no criticism for the ones who should, if not be criticized, at least should be questioned.
Other than adrienne Clarkson, no one seemed to pay any attention to the question itself. Clarkson pointed out that she does not pay for the Queen when she comes to visit; that is taken care of by Heritage Canada. But beyond who pays for what, the question made absolutely no sense. Even if the Governor-General did in fact "spend money on the Queen when she comes", so what? It’s not like the Queen visits Canada on a regular basis.
adrienne Clarkson, the highest spending governor-general in Canadian history has been severely criticized for her spending habits, especially when she and Mr. Governor-General took 60 of their closest friends circumpolaring, whatever that means. It’s possible that Jeremy had a hazy recollection of Clarkson being known for spending money and that led to his question about the Governor-General paying for the Queen when she comes to Canada.
In other words, Jeremy didn’t have a clue about what the Governor-General of Canada does. This brings up the question of what exactly are kids like Jeremy learning in school. The school spent a lot of taxpayers’ money to take Jeremy and his class to Ottawa. You would think that they would be taught something about the Governor-General before they made the trip so that they could put what they would be seeing in context. as the G-G pointed out, everything you ever wanted to know about governors-general is all right there on the website. Perhaps the teachers were having a union meeting that day. But the school should be embarrassed by a 15-year-old student thinking that the Governor-General’s role in Canada is to pay for the Queen on her very occasional visits to this country.
and Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty should have a long think about whether or not he really wants to be called "the education premier".
Clarkson’s heart was in the right place when she suggested the essay instead of a suspension. But we all would be better off if Her Excellency requested that the school write an essay about how their teaching led to Jeremy Patfield asking such a ridiculous question.
The scary thing is that if some MPs have their way, Jeremy will be eligible to vote after his next birthday. and sorry Jerermy; you can’t vote for the Governor-General.