That is very true.
Michäelle Jean was criticized several times for a lack of understanding of her role; I'm not sure if I would go so far as to say she's not a monarchist (I searched and I couldn't find anything from her on the issue either for or against) or that she didn't do a good job at her role (in a lot of ways I far prefer the approach she and Adrienne Clarkson took to David Johnston's), but I definitely think she was over her head a bit in regards to understanding her legal and constitutional role. Johnston has a much better understanding of this - but he should, his background is based in the law (he has a a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard, Bachelor of Laws from Cambridge, and another Bachelor of Laws from Queen's University, he was an assistant professor at Queen's, a full professor at the University of Toronto, the dean of law at the University of Western Ontario, the Principal and Vice-Chancellor at McGill, and then the President of the University of Waterloo). He also has a long history of being involved in politics and government; he served as moderator at several debates during federal elections, and chaired a number of investigations commissioned by both federal and provincial governments.
In short, he should have a far better understanding of the legalities of his position than Jean and Clarkson.
Jean's education was in language and literature (Bachelor of Arts in Italian and Hispanic languages and literature and a Masters of Arts in Comparative Literatures from the University of Montreal, then further language and literature studies at the University of Florence, the University of Perugia, and the Catholic University of Milan), while her pre-GG career was largely in journalism and broadcasting. Clarkson similarly focused on literature while in school (Bachelor of Arts in English and a Masters in English Lit, both from University of Toronto), before embarking upon a 30 year career with CBC.
I kind of hope that when the next GG is selected (Johnston's term is set to end this September), someone who is a blend of our last 3 GG's is selected; someone who does have an understanding of the legal and constitutional position, like Johnston, but also has an understanding of the cultural position that Clarkson and Jean had.
Random, I never noticed it before, but of the last 11 GGs, only 2 of them (Johnston and Ray Hnatyshyn) were appointed under Conservative governments. And I believe Jean is the only one (of the last 11) to not have any political career before becoming GG.
This is great news! That area of Canada needs all the park area it can get.
