Vancouver View: Queen Steps Aside for 2010 Olympics

Governor General of Canada Michaelle Jean at an event in 2006. (Getty Images)(ATR) It’s official: Canada’s Governor General will stand-in for Queen Elizabeth II during the opening ceremony next February for the Vancouver Olympics.

Governor General of Canada Michaelle Jean said Saturday that she would be the one to declare the Games open at the ceremony in B.C. Place Stadium.

"It is in a spirit of solidarity and with great enthusiasm that we are preparing to welcome youth and the world for the twenty-first Olympic Winter Games," Jean said in a statement.

"I am confident that Canada will be able to make this gathering a celebration of winter, sports excellence and fellowship, and I am pleased to be part of it."

Jean is the Canadian government-appointed representative of the Queen, who is the head of state under the British Commonwealth.

The Queen opened the Montreal 1976 Summer Games, but did not for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, the job left to her Canadian representative.

VANOC says it had no immediate explanation for naming Jean instead of the 83-year-old Queen.

"While we would have been delighted to have Her Royal Highness the Queen open the Games, we respect that many considerations would have been taken before designating the Governor General and we are honored to welcome Michaelle Jean," said VANOC vice-president of communications Renee Smith-Valade.

Haiti-born Jean, a former CBC journalist, became Canada's first Caribbean Governor General in 2005.

"She was with us in Torino at the 2006 Olympic Games, cheering on the Canadian team and is clearly excited about what the Games can do for Canada and the important legacy they will leave," said VANOC CEO John Furlong.

With reporting from Bob Mackin in Vancouver.

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