first Canadian Prime Minister has named Mary Simon as governor, the primary indigenous person to carry the post. The former diplomat and advocate for Inuit rights will represent Canada’s head of state, Queen Elizabeth. The announcement comes nearly six months after the previous governor, Julie Payette, resigned amid accusations of bullying. While the role is basically ceremonial, the governor presides over important state duties. Ms. Simon’s appointment follows a national reckoning over Canada’s legacy of residential schools. These government-funded boarding schools were a part of the policy to aim to assimilate indigenous children and roll back indigenous cultures and languages. In the past two months, many unmarked graves, believed to belong to former residential school students, are found. Born in northern Quebec, Ms. Simon said she was raised to take care of a vigorous connection to her Inuit culture and heritage. She has served because of the ambassador to Denmark and as president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Canada’s national Inuit organization. On Tuesday, she said her “historic” nomination was “an important leap forward on the long path towards reconciliation” and towards “building a more inclusive and just Canadian society”. Ms. Simon is bilingual in English and Inuktitut – but not French. She said she was denied the chance to find out French while attending a federal day school in Quebec. Canada has two official languages: English and French. It’s rare that a briefing like this may not be proficient in both but Ms. Simon said on Tuesday she was committed to continuing French language studies. In January, astronaut Julie Payette stepped down after four years on the duty amid reports that a highly critical workplace inquiry would be made public. The third-party review found she presided over a “toxic” working environment, with samples of “yelling, screaming, aggressive conduct, demeaning comments, and public humiliations.” The government had launched an external investigation after CBC News reported last year that several staff members felt bullied by Ms. Payette. In the wake of her resignation, Mr. Trudeau named a justice of Canada Richard Wagner as interim governor. He said on Tuesday that almost 100 names had been vetted and examined before Ms. Simon was selected. As the Queen’s representative in Canada, the governor carries out many duties in her absence. He or she has the ability to provide a throne speech and suspend parliament, give royal assent to legislation, kick off the prime minister, and is the commander-in-chief of the Canadian militia.
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