When the Queen and Prince Philip step into Government House in Halifax this week on the first leg of their hectic nine-day royal visit to Canada, they will be greeted by Mayann E. Francis, Nova Scotia's Lieutenant-Governor, the province's first African-Canadian to hold the post. For Lieutenant-Governor Francis, the meeting will be a reunion of sorts; she had a private audience with the Queen three years ago in Buckingham Palace, during her protocol meet and greet.
What was it like to meet the Queen?
It was a great honour. Of course, there was a little bit of butterflies, but she has this ability to make you feel so relaxed, and she is so well-versed, and very gracious and she engages you in conversation so you forget you are sitting in the room with greatness and you are just talking to this wonderful lady.
What kind of preparations have you had to make for the visit?
Plenty and on several levels, starting with protocol. We are briefed on how you address Her Majesty and His Royal Highness, where do you walk [when they are walking] how to curtsy, what to do if she extends a hand.
So for you, these are brush-up lessons.
Yes, but you can never have too much of it. You never want to unintentionally show disrespect.
Will the royal couple be staying at Government House, newly refurbished for $6.2-million?
We have no confirmation of that. We are preparing for every contingency. But the Queen will rededicate the house and I will lead her and His Royal Highness on a tour. There's no script. If they ask questions, I hope I will have the answer. But I won't fudge. If I don't know the answer, I will say, 'We will get that answer for you.' She's been here before. In 1959, seated in the dining room, she named Georges Vanier as Canada's new Governor-General.
Your personal story is quite remarkable, from relatively low-level jobs as an X-ray technician and department store switchboard operator to senior executive positions and now Lieutenant-Governor. How did that happen?
I was raised in Whitney Pier, outside of Sydney, [N.S.] It was a community of immigrants and every parent wanted their children to get an education and do great things. That gave me a very sound foundation. It helped me to understand people with different backgrounds.
Your father was the rector of the church.
I spent a lifetime in that church.
But how did you make the transition, from X-ray technician to senior management in human resources positions and then CEO of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission and Ombudsman?
I always knew I would do great things, but when I moved to the United States, it was very difficult to find an opportunity. At first I volunteered - as an X-ray technician. One day, a doctor asked me if I wanted a paid position at one of his clinics. So I did that and went back to school and became a paralegal and soon started working on Wall Street. And that was how it started.
You must have encountered some racism.
It's always there. As long as you are a woman or a member of a racial minority, you never really escape it. And you have to be careful not to allow it to make you a paranoid person. You will not stop it, but you need to know how do to manage it. When I speak to students, I tell them, 'This is what you will hit.' But I never allowed racism, overt or covert, to break my spirit. Once it breaks your spirit, you are lost. So I always talk about dreams and aspirations, and tell them to see my being here as a beacon of hope. You can achieve. It's not always a bed of roses. Don't expect it to be nice and smooth. But if you have solid foundation and dreams, you can weather those storms.
This interview has been condensed and edited.