Canada's new governor general announced

August 3, 2005

Sources have told the Canadian television network CBC that Michaëlle Jean will become Canada's next governor general. The current officeholder, Adrienne Clarkson, who is recovering from artificial pacemaker surgery, will step down on September 27 to make way for Jean, who is best-known in English-speaking Canada as the host of the CBC television documentary show, "The Passionate Eye".

Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jean is an award winning journalist who is fluent in five languages. The official announcement of her appointment will be made by Prime Minister Paul Martin at 11:00 Eastern Time (1500 UTC) on Thursday, August 4.