Ray Hnatyshyn

Ramon John Hnatyshyn PC CC CMM CD QC (Can) QC (Sask) FRHSC(hon) (/nəˈtɪʃən/; March 16, 1934 – December 18, 2002), commonly known as Ray Hnatyshyn, was a Canadian politician and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 24th since Canadian Confederation.

Hnatyshyn was born and educated in Saskatchewan and served in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets prior to being elected to the House of Commons in 1974, whereafter he served as a minister of the Crown in two non-successive governments until 1988. He was in 1989 appointed as governor general by Queen Elizabeth II, on the recommendation of Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney, to replace Jeanne Mathilde Sauvé as viceroy, and he occupied the post until succeeded by Roméo LeBlanc in 1995. As the Queen's representative, Hnatyshyn proved to be a populist, reversing some exclusive policies of his predecessor, such as opening up Rideau Hall to ordinary Canadians and tourists alike, and was praised for raising the stature of Ukrainian Canadians.

Chrétien

Chrétien may refer to:

Jean Chrétien

Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien PC OM CC QC (born January 11, 1934), known commonly as Jean Chrétien (French pronunciation: ​[ʒɑ̃ kʁetjɛ̃]), is a Canadian politician and statesman who served as the 20th Prime Minister of Canada from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003.

Born and raised in Shawinigan, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Université Laval. He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1963. He served in various cabinet posts under prime minister Pierre Trudeau, most prominently as Minister of Justice, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. He also served as deputy prime minister in John Turner's short-lived government. He became leader of the Liberal Party of Canada in 1990, and led the party to a majority government in the 1993 federal election. He was re-elected with further majorities in 1997 and 2000.

Chrétien was strongly opposed to the Quebec sovereignty movement and supported official bilingualism and multiculturalism. He won a narrow victory as leader of the federalist camp in the 1995 Quebec Referendum, and then pioneered the Clarity Act to avoid ambiguity in future referendum questions. He also advanced the Youth Criminal Justice Act in Parliament. Although his popularity and that of the Liberal Party were seemingly unchallenged for three consecutive federal elections, he became subject to various political controversies in the later years of his premiership. He was accused of inappropriate behaviour in the Sponsorship scandal, although he has consistently denied any wrongdoing. He also became embroiled in a protracted struggle within the Liberal Party against long-time political rival Paul Martin. He resigned as prime minister in December 2003, and left public life. In retroactive polling, Chrétien ranks highly among both scholars and the public.

Chrétien de Troyes

Chrétien de Troyes (French pronunciation: ​[kʁe.tjɛ̃ də.tʁwa]) (Christian) was a late 12th century French poet and trouvère known for his work on Arthurian subjects, and for originating the character Lancelot. This work represents some of the best-regarded of medieval literature. His use of structure, particularly in Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, has been seen as a step towards the modern novel. Little is known of his life, but he seems to have been from Troyes, or at least intimately connected with it, and between 1160 and 1172 he served at the court of his patroness Marie of France, Countess of Champagne, daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine, perhaps as herald-at-arms (as Gaston Paris speculated).

Works

Chrétien's works include five major poems in rhyming eight-syllable couplets. Four of these are complete; Erec and Enide (c. 1170); Cligès (c. 1176), and Yvain, the Knight of the Lion and Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, both written simultaneously between 1177 and 1181. Chrétien's final romance was Perceval, the Story of the Grail, written between 1181 and 1190, but left unfinished, though some scholars have disputed this. It is dedicated to Philip, Count of Flanders, to whom Chrétien may have been attached in his last years. He finished only 9,000 lines of the work, but four successors of varying talents added 54,000 additional lines in what are known as the Four Continuations. Similarly, the last thousand lines of Lancelot were written by Godefroi de Leigni, apparently by arrangement with Chrétien. In the case of Perceval, one continuer says the poet's death prevented him from completing the work, in the case of Lancelot, no reason is given. This has not stopped speculation that Chrétien did not approve of Lancelot's adulterous subject.

Governor-general

Governor-general or governor general, in modern usage, is the title of an office-holder appointed to represent the monarch of a sovereign state in the governing of an independent realm. Governors-general have also previously been appointed in respect of major colonial states or other territories held by either a monarchy or republic, such as French Indochina.

Current uses

In modern usage, the term governor-general originated in those British colonies which became self-governing within the British Empire. Before World War I, the title was used only in federated colonies in which each of the previously constituent colonies of these federated colonies already had a governor, namely Canada, Australia, and the Union of South Africa. In these cases, the Crown's representative in the federated Dominion was given the superior title of governor general. The first exception to this rule was New Zealand, which was granted Dominion status in 1907, but it was not until 28 June 1917 that Arthur Foljambe, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, was appointed the first Governor General of New Zealand. Another non-federal state, Newfoundland, was a Dominion for 16 years with the King's representative retaining the title of governor throughout this time.