The viceregal family undertook their first international trip in February 2006 , journeying to Italy to attend the closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics , meet Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in Torino , and Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican . Three months later , Jean attended the investiture of René Préval as President of Haiti , Jean 's first visit to her homeland in her capacity as the Queen 's representative , and where she was greeted with enthusiasm in Jacmel . At the end of the year , between November 18 and December 11 , 2006 , Jean then embarked on a trip consisting of state visits to five African countries — Algeria , Mali , Ghana , South Africa , and Morocco — wherein the Governor General encouraged women 's rights . She also , in a precedent-breaking move , personally explained on her Citizen Voices website the role of the governor general in undertaking such trips and the reason behind these particular tours throughout Africa , after which she continued to post her observations and feelings on her experiences on the continent . In Mali , where she arrived on November 23 , 2006 , Jean was greeted by tens of thousands of people lining the highway as her motorcade passed and , in the town of Benieli , she was presented with a goat , replete with a Canadian flag on its collar . Male vendors also gave Canadian journalists gifts to be passed on to Jean , provided that she also be given their telephone numbers . Further , during the South African leg of the tour , then President Thabo Mbeki praised the Queen-in-Council 's decision to appoint Jean as governor general , citing it as an example to European countries of how African immigrants could be treated
closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics
2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony
Michaëlle Jean