Pope John Paul II, Secretary-General of the United Nations Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, President François Mitterrand of France, Chinese President Li Xiannian, Romanian President Nicolae Ceauşescu, Mother Teresa, and, eventually, President Reagan. A number of these state visits were reciprocated when Sauvé travelled to represent the Queen in Italy, the Vatican, the People's Republic of China, Thailand, France, Uruguay, and Brazil. Also in her capacity as vicereine, in 1986 Sauvé accepted, on behalf of the "People of Canada", the Nansen Medal and, two years later, opened the XV Olympic Winter Games in Calgary, Alberta. But, one of her favourite events that she hosted was the annual Christmas party for the Ottawa Boys & Girls Club and its French-language counterpart, the Patro d'Ottawa; the children came to Rideau Hall to visit with Santa Claus and attended a lunch in the Tent Room. Sauvé personally hosted and wore a paper party hat to celebrate the special occasion. Ironically, as with the speculations about Sauvé's standing in protocol vis-a-vis Mulroney, the Governor General herself was accused of elevating her position above its traditional place; she was criticised for her own presidentialisation of the viceregal post, with pundits at the time saying she occupied "Republican Hall". For instance, it was revealed that Sauvé's staff had meddled in Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan Frederick Johnson's plans to host a dinner at Government House in Regina, at which the Governor General was to be a guest. Further, municipal event organisers were told that singing of the Royal Anthem was not allowed and the loyal toast to the Queen was to be replaced with a toast to Sauvé, all of which not only disregarded precedent but also grated on prairie sensitivities. In her final address as vicereine, at Christmas, 1989, some of Sauvé's words were perceived as veiled warning about the failure of the Meech Lake Accord and she was criticised for this suspected breach of neutrality. The Premier of Newfoundland at the time, Clyde Wells, said it was "inappropriate for the Crown to be intruding in political affairs that way" and Bill Dawson, a law professor at the University of Western Ontario, described Sauvé's use of the word pact as "injudicious". This was a subject on which Sauvé and the Queen agreed; Elizabeth II had also publicly expressed on October 22 and 23, 1987 her personal support for the accord and received criticism from its opponents. Sauvé,