After a five-year reign fraught with controversy and difficult decisions, Haitian-born Michaëlle Jean is leaving her post as Canada’s governor general, CTV reports. A position usually known for being mostly ceremonial, Jean’s visit to Rideau Hall, which ends Monday, has been strewn with highlights including political decision and a controversial stance that ensure Jean is not quickly forgotten. Jean, 52, will be leaving Rideau Hall Monday, to continue her career as a special envoy to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for Haiti. Academic David Johnston, the outgoing president of the University of Waterloo and former principal of McGill University is set to take over her post Oct. 1.

Appointed by former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin in 2005, Jean succeeded Adrienne Clarkson to become the 27th governor general to serve as the Queen’s representative in Canada since Confederation. Jean saw her candidacy challenged early by rumors of having a separatist ideology, forcing her and husband Jean-Daniel Lafond to distribute a press release confirming their allegiance to Canada. Martin had to come to her defense, reiterated her “unwavering support” for Canada. Jean’s dual Canadian and French citizenship was also called into question, and she renounced her citizenship days before she was officially sworn in.

Michaelle Jean stepped into the post in September 2005, unaware that three years later she alone would have to decide the fate of the country – and make an unprecedented decision in Canadian history. Asked to settle an impasse between Stephen Harper’s Conservative government and a newly formed opposition coalition, Jean twice granted the prime minister’s request to prorogue government. In 2008, it put an end to plans for a confidence vote that could have brought down the minority Conservative government. Harper asked Jean to prorogue Parliament again in December 2009 until after the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Beyond political changes, Jean’s reign has also been marked by her personality and unique flair. Jean eschewed an excess of formality in a public position known for restraint, even providing a few impromptu dance steps in Parliament during her inauguration.

She raised another controversy in Nunavut when she showed support for Inuit seal hunters by eating the raw heart of a seal – complete with pictures shown throughout the world of her wiping bloody fingers clean.

A refugee of Haiti, in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in January, the governor general made an emotional address to Parliament, expressing her grief over the event.

Jean will be serving a four-year term as a UNESCO special envoy to Haiti.

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