Former Governor General of Canada is one of five candidates seeking to replace the outgoing secretary-general of la Francophonie Abdou Diouf, who is stepping down after more than 10 years.FRED CHARTRAND/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Premiers of Quebec and New Brunswick will attend this weekend's summit of la Francophonie, at which former governor-general Michaëlle Jean could become secretary-general of the organization.
Ms. Jean is one of five candidates seeking to replace the outgoing Abdou Diouf, who is stepping down after more than 10 years.
Ms. Jean is getting support from the federal government, Quebec, New Brunswick and her native Haiti, but it remains to be seen how many other members of la Francophonie will endorse her.
The organization has 57 members or associate members.
The summit begins in the Senegalese capital of Dakar on Saturday, with the organization's new leader being announced Sunday.
Besides Mr. Harper, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard and New Brunswick's Brian Gallant will be among those attending the various plenaries at the 15th summit of la Francophonie, where major themes are women and youth.
Ms. Jean, who served as governor-general between 2005 and 2010, is getting a big push from the Quebec delegation in Senegal.
"We're talking about her, what she's done in her career and how she could give la Francophonie a new look," Quebec's International Relations Minister Christine St-Pierre said.
Ms. St-Pierre described Ms. Jean as a woman of vision who would provide fresh impetus for la Francophonie.
"We know she's a woman who lives in the Northern Hemisphere, but she's also from the south because she's from Haiti and she has a good understanding of the French-speaking world," Ms. St-Pierre said after meeting with representatives of women's groups.
According Ms. St-Pierre, electing Ms. Jean as the first woman to head the organization would send a "powerful" message .
"We talk about women making up half the world," she said. "Well, they also make up half of la Francophonie and we need to tell them: 'Look, you have in the secretary-general the necessary person to make progress in establishing equality between men and women.'"
Ms. Jean's candidacy ended up surfacing in the Commons on Thursday, when NDP MP Pierre Dionne Labelle accused the Conservatives of giving French short shrift on the new Canada Twitter account .
The NDP said the site just contains translations from English into French — and poor ones to boot.