Canadian, Inuk and Indigenous history was made when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recommended Mary Simon as the first Inuk Governor General to the Queen on July 6. Simon was installed July 26.
As Canada’s 30th Governor General, Simon is responsible for representing the Queen in Canada. Simon will ensure that all constitutional duties are carried out, be a representative for Canada on the national and international stage and create unity among all Canadians.
Simon is the first Inuk, Indigenous and Arctic representative to hold the position. She is also the first to be bilingual in Inuktitut and English, but not in French.
Simon was born in Kangiqsualujjuaq, a village in Nunavik, Quebec in 1947. During her long career in politics, Simon broke through glass ceilings as an Inuk and Indigenous woman.
Simon led the Inuit Circumpolar Council, a group representing Inuit people internationally, as president from 1986 to 1992. She also served as a senior Inuit negotiator in both the 1992 Charlottetown Accord and the 1982 to 1992 repatriation of the Canadian constitution.
Simon then served as the Canadian ambassador to Denmark from 1999 to 2002 and led the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, an advocacy organization representing Inuit voices in Canada, as president from 2006 to 2012.
Simon received an honorary doctor of laws degree in 2011 from Carleton University to recognize her extensive work representing Inuk and Indigenous people in government.
Simon’s selection as Governor General is a joyful occasion for many Inuit, according to Katherine Minich. Minich is an Inuk professor at Carleton’s School of Public Policy and Administration, whose research focuses on the policy processes of Inuk governance and environmental and social policy.
“It is an exciting time to understand Arctic stewardship,” Minich said. “Canada often sees itself as a northern-based country, but now that there’s an Indigenous northerner in this space, we’ll get an opportunity to see a bit more about what that perspective really means.”
Minich said Simon would bring to government knowledge about “how to attend to not only the wildlife, the languages that are spoken, but also, attend to the well being of Northerners.”
Jerald Sabin is an assistant professor of Indigenous-settler intergovernmental relations with a PhD in political science. Sabin said he also believes Simon’s new role is an opportunity for Canadians to reflect upon Canada’s vision and society.
According to Sabin, the office of the Governor General has played an important symbolic role since 1957 when Vincent Massey became the first Canadian citizen to be appointed to the office of Governor General.
Robert Burroughs is a PhD student at the University of New Brunswick whose research focuses on the Crown and its relationship to Canada.
Simon’s appointment to Governor General forces settler peoples and the Canadian government to consciously think about the relationship between the settler state and Indigenous communities, which are largely self-governing, Burroughs said. Sabin agreed.
“For a long time the vision of Canada has always been one of bilingualism—English and French,” Sabin said. “However, with Simon as Governor General [who is] bilingual in English and Inuktitut, she challenges settler Canadians to think critically about what bilingualism truly means in Canadian society.”
Karl Alary is a commerce student at Carleton and a Quebec resident. He said he does not view Simon’s lack of French language skills as a set back to equitable representation in Simon’s position as Governor General.
“There is not just French and English in Canada—there are multitudes of Indigenous languages. With our more colonial way of thinking we tend to forget [about that],” Alary said. “The sharing of experiences and cultures needs to happen. It’s not something that can be one way.”
While the role of Governor General is important and symbolic, it is ultimately up to Canadians, the Canadian state and the government to cognizantly work on reconciliation, according to Burroughs.
“We often forget in this walk towards reconciliation that what precedes reconciliation is truth,” Burroughs said. “If at the end of the day, she helps us get a little closer to understanding our own truth, she will have been an extraordinary Governor General and a very successful one.”
According to Minich, the appointment is significant to Inuit because it spreads awareness about their rights and culture. Inuit are a minority in Canada with a population around 65,000.
“To see that someone who grew up in an Inuit community, who speaks Inuktitut and was able to make a national address in our mother tongue … That’s a lot to celebrate,” Minich said.
Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
