Installation complete. Scanning for errors...

Former broadcaster and separatist sympathizer Michaelle Jean was sworn in as Canada's 27th Governor General today.

Watching the installation ceremony, this page is left wondering if the country is not in for five flaky years at Rideau Hall. Jean not only abandoned the dress she planned to wear to the ceremony after its designer revealed the outfit to the media last weekend, she also managed to ditch her French citizenship and her crush on Quebec sovereignty. This page has no problem with her choices, but some rationale is always enlighting and builds trust with the public. Confirmation hearings anyone?

The ceremony itself, which was big on touchy-feelyisms and folksingers wandering the Senate aisles, reminded me of those weddings where the couple writes their own vows, and the best man gets a phone call at 3:00 AM before the ceremony asking "Dude, what rhymes with radiant?" It also reminded me that if Jim Green thinks out loud even once about bringing back the folk festival refugees to open City Council meetings, I'm flushing my ballot for Mayor of Vancouver.

What also made watching painful was the CBC lockout, leaving the viewing public to the devices of CTV. This had two effects: One, the unavailability for comment by anyone who used to work with the new Governor-General, and two, Count Floyd Robertson repeatedly asking about how 'vivacious' Jean is. I didn't realize this was a qualification to be Governor-General: how vivacious was Jeanne Sauve? Ed Schryer? Georges Vanier? Lord Stanley of Preston?

Adrienne Clarkson didn't get off to a great vice-regal start either, but she gained tremendous credibility towards the end of her term for hanging out with our men and women in uniform and giving our troops their props. As someone who fled a military dictatorship in Haiti, I don't see this happening with Jean, so she'll need to gather an agenda on her own, maybe something using her chops as an anti-poverty activist. Otherwise, her job only goes as far as making Paul Martin look good for picking her to 71% of Quebeckers. Several swing ridings in La Belle Provence make the difference between an upgrade to a Liberal majority or Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

As for the rest of Canada, the latest former CBC stalwart in Rideau Hall will be given a chance. However, I am loathe to this trend if the Fifth Estate abandons its vigilance against the state just because someone among them could be its next titular head.