OTTAWA – The spouse of Governor General Mary Simon has poured out his heart against the media coverage in Quebec which he describes as a “growing series of bullshit” concerning his wife’s aptitude in French. In a long message, he also criticizes the positions taken by politicians and the Commissioner of Official Languages on the matter.
Whit Fraser, who knew he would have to “accept sometimes having to bite my tongue” when his wife was appointed in 2021, however did not have the choice to make it “an exception”, as he indicates in a lengthy English post on Facebook Friday evening (October 11).
“A growing series of bullshit (a growing raft of BS) from the Quebec media highlights the two things for which I will always fight: my wife and journalism, which has been so beneficial to me,” writes the former long-time journalist, notably at the CBC.
The Governor General’s inability to speak in the language of Molière has resurfaced in recent weeks. During a visit by Mary Simon – who was accompanied by her husband – to a community organization in Lévis, the Quebec Journal reported that she still did not speak French, three years after her appointment.
Whit Fraser denounces the coverage of the Quebec daily accusing the author of the text of having “brought a knife rather than a pen to an event where the Journal journalist only served his own interests”.
“Unfortunately, the Journal de Québec felt that the community would be better served by jumping on the lowest rotten fruit in the trash,” he says.
Raymond Théberge and the damaged politicians
He also throws stones at the media and radio stations which took up the subject, those who should have “questioned the accuracy, the judgment or the motive”, but who preferred to “pile on”. He also accuses “a host of insecure Quebec politicians have followed suit – including federal Liberal Cabinet ministers” as well as the Bloc Québécois, “which does not want to be part of Canada in the first place, ‘having roared,’ he blames.
Whit Fraser adds more against the Quebec Journal which reported, via a survey by the Léger polling firm, that approximately 71% of Quebecers consider it “unacceptable” that the Governor General cannot speak French in 2024.
“Who believes that this newspaper will one day poll Indigenous Canadians and ask: how many of them find it acceptable that for 157 years and thirty previous governors general, not a single one speaks an Indigenous language? “, he asks himself.
He also accuses the Commissioner of Official Languages of having made a “hasty judgment” when Raymond Théberge asserted that anyone representing Canada on the national and international scene should be able to speak English and French.
Mary Simon became the first Indigenous person to be appointed to the post of Governor General in 2021, having promised to learn French when her appointment was announced.
The latter can speak in English and Inuktitut, but not in French, having taken nearly 180 hours of French lessons since her appointment three years ago according to Radio-Canadawhich is not mentioned on any occasion With Fraser. He mentions, however, that “yes, anglophones had difficulty in French – and francophones had difficulty in English – but no one lost sight of the challenge.”
Ms. Simon’s husband deplores “that no one was asked if they had ever tried to learn the Governor General’s indigenous language, Inuktitut.” He goes on to recall that his critics have never “acknowledged the fact” that even though she was born in Quebec, Mary Simon never had the chance to learn French, because it was not taught at home. federal day school in Kuujjuaq where she grew up.
“Acknowledging this is simply too hypocritical to bear,” he accuses.
Whit Fraser denounces that this story overshadowed his wife’s visit to the food aid organization in Lévis, Quebec, which he describes as “an hour and a half of the best of the human spirit.” Mary Simon had to cancel other activities planned on her schedule in the Quebec capital following the controversy.
