Outgoing GG Mary Simon leaves behind turbulent legacy
· Toronto Sun
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OTTAWA — She leaves behind a complicated and turbulent tenure at Rideau Hall.
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On Monday, now-former governor general Mary Simon left the viceregal estate in Ottawa for the last time — replaced by Montreal-born former Supreme Court Jurist Louise Arbour , who was installed as Canada’s 31st head of state.
Appointed by former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2021 following the abrupt exit of former Vice-Regal Julie Payette, Simon’s tenure was notable for being Canada’s first Indigenous governor general.
Born and raised in Kuujjuaq in the Quebec Arctic, the daughter of an English-speaking Canadian and Inuk Mother, Simon’s installation was seen as a significant step towards reconciliation by Indigenous leaders — but her lack of French knowledge and high-profile spending controversies will almost assuredly colour Simon’s tenure at Rideau Hall.
Questions of language
Simon came to Rideau Hall in 2021 as a bilingual Canadian, but despite being born in the Quebec Arctic, she started her time in office being fluent in English and Inuktitut, not French.
Despite a 20-year career in Canada’s foreign ministry and a tenure as Canada’s ambassador to Denmark, Simon never opted to learn French.
Making note of her lack of French skills, she maintained she was committed to learning the language upon her appointment.
Her lack of French prompted a firestorm from French Canada, triggering over 1,300 complaints to the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.
Former commissioner Raymond Theberge, however, ruled Simon’s appointment didn’t violate the Official Languages Act as governors-general aren’t within the legislation’s mandate.
That prompted years of French lessons — hundreds of hours of private tutoring costing taxpayers over $52,000 — which didn’t end up amounting to much.
During a 2024 official visit to Quebec City, Francophone Quebecers and Canada’s French-language press were quick to notice that Simon spoke almost no French , prompting her handlers to cut her visit short to avoid further embarrassment and promises from Rideau Hall that she’ll start taking her French lessons seriously .
It was Simon’s lack of French that prompted Prime Minister Mark Carney to publicly state that Canada’s next viceroy be fluent in both English and French.
Airplane meals and clothing
In a story first broken by Postmedia News, questions surrounding spending in Rideau Hall came to a head after reports in the National Postrevealed Simon’s eight-day tour of the Middle East in 2022 came with a $100,000 in-flight catering bill , triggering House committee hearings about how much taxpayers are expected to pay to feed dignitaries during official travel.
That particular trip included decidedly uncommon airplane fare including beef wellington, beef carpaccio and tens of thousands of dollars spent on garnishes and redacted quantities of orange juice.
There were also questions raised about the amount of public money spent on Rideau Hall, particularly surrounding the role’s $130,000 clothing allowance and the fact the role comes with a nearly $400,000 annual salary after the job’s most recent automatic pay raise.
Simon leaves office with “gratitude”
In her farewell address to Canadians, Simon said she entered the role with hopes to serve as a voice of “compassion and respect,” reflecting the many people and cultures that make up Canada.
“I believe in the importance of strengthening relationships and deepening understanding among all peoples, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike,” she wrote.
“Reconciliation belongs to all of us. It is not only about acknowledging the past, but also about shaping our shared future. It calls for us to share our stories, to learn from one another, and sometimes to have difficult but necessary conversations. This is how we move forward together, in dignity and equality.”