Roundup: Mary Simon en route to Rideau Hall

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At long last, prime minister Justin Trudeau announced his pick for the next Governor General – and that the Queen had approved of her appointment. The choice is Mary Simon, an Inuk woman from Nunavik in northern Quebec, who started off at CBC North, moved on to negotiating land claims and was part of the constitutional negotiationsin the early 1980s, and later served as Canadian ambassador to Denmark and to the Arctic Council, before becoming president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, serving two terms. The only real downside was that she doesn’t speak French, and she cited that it was because it was not offered during as a choice when she attended day schools in the 1950s, but was committed to learn it – though it does bear noting that Inuktitut is an official language in Nunavut, so that should count for something among critics.

https://twitter.com/RoyalFamily/status/1412425923463372816

https://twitter.com/sachaforstner/status/1412417956756267011

https://twitter.com/sachaforstner/status/1412417960271097868

Speaking of critics, here is a rundown of praise and criticism for the choice, as well as some praise from some of the loudest Indigenous advocates in the country, as well as a few others. One of the recurring things that keeps coming up, however, is that Simon is taking on a role that is colonial, and while Simon herself doesn’t see a conflict (and I’m told that the Inuit view their relationship with Canada differently than the First Nations do). Something that I’ve also seen a lot of online have been variations of “If she doesn’t use the office to burn it to the ground, then what good is it?” or “I hope she’s the last Governor General,” and the usual republican nonsense that misidentifies exactly which queen she will be representing, but of course, the problem with these narratives are both that a) as Governor General, she it’s not her place to burn it all down – that’s why we elect governments; and b) abolishing the monarchy will only complete the colonial project, not advance reconciliation. There are too many facile narratives floating around that only serve to make things worse, not better.

https://twitter.com/robert_hiltz/status/1412480494390886401

Meanwhile, Philippe Lagassé enumerates the additional burdens that Simon will have to take on – rehabilitating the office post-Julie Payette, dealing with military sexual misconduct as the commander-in-chief, and walking the line of being the representative of the Crown in a time of reconciliation. Susan Delacourt states that Simon should have been appointed in 2017, making the salient point that she is experience over novelty, and diplomacy over celebrity. Aaron Wherry argues that the appointment is not simply empty symbolism. Paul Wells emphasises the value of presence and being present in the role, which Simon will fulfil greatly.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau and Scott Moe signed a child and family services with the Cowessess First Nation, which is the first one to access the new law.
  • We got a few more details about the high-frequency rail announcement, and that the procurement process will begin in the fall, which will help determine the system.
  • The Catholic Church in Canada promised $25 million for residential school survivors, paid $4 million, and yet raised $300 million for new buildings.
  • The process to elect a new AFN national chief is now underway.
  • Things continue to go swimmingly in the Green Party, as Annamie Paul was muted on a zoom meeting when she pushed back against staffing cuts.
  • My column takes issue with the notion that the government had “six years” to pass bill C-6, which is both disingenuous and trivializing the nature of the bill.

Odds and ends:

https://twitter.com/strombo/status/1412485145303699459

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4 thoughts on “Roundup: Mary Simon en route to Rideau Hall”

  1. You left out the line that should end your comment on the catholic church, that being, For catholics it is always about the money, they exploit the mass suckers who provide it and they always need more money!

  2. Surprisingly, Cons aren’t angry that she doesn’t speak French or that she’s Inuit. Well, they are (and they’re doing their tiresome caping for JWR again), but they’re actually more outraged that she used to work at CBC. But Kerry Diotte was just fine with calling to appoint a GG from Sportsnet of all places (Don Cherry) and I forget who had started a petition to appoint (puke) Conrad Black (who ought to be deported and his propaganda apparatus shut down).

    They didn’t seem to mind Harper using CTV as the Cons’ Senate bullpen either, which is basically the equivalent of Trump appointing Hannity to cabinet. They don’t mind Lilley getting cozy with Ford’s chief of staff or Postmedia operating as the Pravda “war room” for the Kamikaze Kenney Klan. And what of those “rumours” about the Pentagon princess at the West Block and O’Toole’s Svengali for the leadership bid? It’s only “nasty fake news dopey clown reporters” when the Liberals have a journalist of merit on board?

    They can’t stand O’Regan or Ien either, and they’re quaking in their boots about Freeland. I can just imagine the freakouts they would have had if the three level-headed women of “At Issue” were among the finalists (not that Trudeau would appoint Coyne anyway, “ethics optics” of hiring his cousin notwithstanding). Congrats to Ms. Simon in spite of all the haters, though I still think it would have been fun to watch their heads explode over GG Priyanka or Brooke Lynn Hytes 😀

  3. Again the MEDIA gets it wrong. #Fact, Mary Simon, does read and write in French and has a very good understanding of the language. She does not speak it at the moment. Nuance is everything but I know it’s too much for our lazy media.

  4. I see that in Philippe Lagassé’s July 6th appreciation of Ms Simon’s appointment he says “…the idea that the prime minister has become presidential is overblown…”

    Well, we didn’t used to introduce governors general designate at news conferences — presided over by the prime minister — at which the GGD is expected to thank the PM for the appointment and take questions from the media that s/he isn’t in a position to answer. Trudeau’s insistence in having news conferences to ensure he get credit for the appointments and remind everyone that he is in command sure looks presidential to me.

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