Mary Simon was sworn in as Canada’s first Indigenous Governor-General during a ceremony in the Senate Chamber in Ottawa on July 26, 2021. BLAIR GABLE / X02562
A group of Quebec residents have filed a lawsuit challenging the appointment of Mary Simon as governor-general on the grounds that her inability to speak French violates constitutional requirements for official bilingualism.
The move was followed by months of controversy in the province over the fact that the Queen’s representative in Canada speaks only one of the country’s official languages. Mrs. Simon was the first native to serve as Governor-General and speak Inuktitut as well as English.
Quebec residents, who filed a lawsuit in the Quebec Supreme Court on Wednesday, are following the successful attempt by Acadians in New Brunswick to declare the appointment of the province’s monolingual English-speaking vice-governor a violation of the constitution.
The lawsuit alleges that Ms. Simon’s nomination violates sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that give Canadians the right to interact with federal government institutions in French or English and give both languages equal status in the Canadian government.
The person who serves as Governor-General is a unique synonym for the position he holds, due to the highly personal nature of the position, the lawsuit claims, which means that the bilingualism required by the federal institutions must also be required by Mr. Mrs. Simon.
Her inability to express herself in French is not only unconstitutional, but also offensive to Francophone Canadians, who feel disrespected in an English country by a majority, said Frederick Bastien, a former Quebec Party leadership candidate who is leading the challenge in court.
“This is another injustice for French Canadians in a long series of injustices,” he said. “Every time I go to a restaurant in Montreal and I can’t be served in French, it’s humiliating and it’s everyday. Now the example is given from above. “
Ms. Simon is a grandson and grew up in the northern region of Quebec in Nunavik, but was educated at a federal day school where students are taught in English.
She delivered part of her first throne speech in French, but prominent figures in Quebec, including Prime Minister Francois Lego, have criticized her command of the language. Ms. Simon said she was “firmly committed to learning French.”
Her appointment last year as deputy royal envoy sparked a protest in Quebec and a stream of more than 1,000 complaints to the federal commissioner for official languages, who launched an investigation into the nomination. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended Ms. Simon at the time, citing a lack of French language instruction at school.
Commissioner Raymond Teberge eventually allowed the Office of the Privy Council, which advises the Prime Minister during the appointment process, to violate the Official Languages Act.
The issue was reopened in April when a judge at the Queen’s Bench court in New Brunswick ruled that the appointment of a monolingual English-speaking vice-governor for Canada’s only officially bilingual province violated the Charter. The federal government has appealed, arguing, among other things, that the relevant language protections in New Brunswick apply to institutions and not to individuals.
Chief Justice Tracy Dever bases his decision on the specific language provisions of the New Brunswick Charter, but they are close enough to the English and French articles at the federal level that Mr Bastien is motivated to initiate such a legal challenge. He is joined by the advocacy groups Justice pour le Québec (of which he is president) and the Quebec Association for the Protection of Personal Rights and Collectives.
New Brunswick’s decision did not overturn Brenda Murphy’s appointment as vice governor, noting that it would create a crisis by calling into question the laws she had signed. Instead, the judge left it to the federal government to decide how to rectify the situation.
The Acadian Society of New Brunswick, which launched the initial legal challenge, called on the federal government to require future New Brunswick vice governors to speak two languages. The group’s president, Alexander Cedric Dusse, said that while viceroys have largely ceremonial roles, they also have important functions that require them to understand both official languages of Canada.
“If they are not able to understand the laws they are signing, we are beyond symbolism,” he said.
The federal challenge seeks to make Ms. Simon’s appointment “invalid” under Canadian law. It will be up to the courts to decide how to manage the effects of recent federal legislation, Mr Bastien said.
The fact that Ms. Simon is Canada’s first indigenous governor-general does not justify her inability to speak French, he said, adding that there are possible indigenous candidates for the post who speak both English and French.
Anglophones need to think about how they would feel if language roles were reversed, Mr Bastien said.
“It is completely unthinkable that the governor-general cannot speak English,” he said.
The cabinets of the prime minister, the governor-general and the justice minister did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
In a statement, Pierre-Alain Bujold, a spokesman for the Secret Council Office, said: “We have received the request and will consider it carefully. Since its installation nearly a year ago, Canada’s first Indigenous Governor-General, Mary Simon, has represented Canada abroad, hosted world leaders in Canada, honored the achievements of Canadian members of the armed forces and had the opportunity to meet Canadians across the country. that represent our diversity. The Governor-General has done a remarkable job and has shown great leadership in the performance of his office duties. ”
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