Three years later, the Governor General still does not speak French: Mary Simon’s “in English” visit to a community organization in Lévis

Three years after taking office, where she had promised to learn French, the Governor General of Canada, Mary Simon, conversed almost exclusively in English during a discreet visit to a community organization in Lévis on Tuesday morning.

The Commander-in-Chief of Canada visited the Comptoir alimentaire Le Grenier to highlight the involvement of employees and volunteers in “improving the quality of life in their community.”

The Journal moved to observe M’s progress^me Simon in a city where 99.8% of the population has French as their mother tongue, according to Statistics Canada.

Aside from the usual greetings, such as “hello, how are you?”, we noted that the rest of the discussions between the members of the Grenier team and the Governor General took place almost exclusively in English.

“We felt that she understood French a little better, but it was not really possible to discuss. […] “It’s disappointing, even annoying. She’s been taking French classes for three years and she’s not even able to hold a conversation,” laments a person who works within the organization and who requested anonymity.

95% in English

Other volunteers and staff present during Mary Simon’s visit also shared similar observations. “I would say 95% of the tour was in English,” said one, visibly disappointed.

“We are extremely pleased with Mr.^me Simon: The important thing for us is the influence that his visit will bring to our organization. The more we are seen, the more likely we are to attract donors and help more people,” says Grenier’s general manager, Stéphane Clavet.

However, he had to break out his Sunday English to explain to the Governor General that his organization helps thousands of Lévis residents who are struggling with the scourge of food insecurity by offering them a variety of foods at a price significantly lower than those in supermarkets.

No interview

It was not possible for the media to speak, even informally, with the Governor General, who was born in Quebec and speaks fluent English and Inuktitut.

Mary Simon’s communications team also declined our interview request. It was also not possible to film the exchanges between Canada’s highest dignitary and the volunteers at the food bank out of dignity for the beneficiaries present.

Broken promise

Let us recall that in December 2023, she had affirmed to Radio-Canada that she wanted to be able to “speak to French speakers” by the end of 2024. To do this, “Her Excellency” stressed that she had taken more than 184 hours of French lessons, which represents nearly $28,000 in taxpayers’ money.

Almost a year later, it is clear that the objective remains to be achieved for the moment.

On Wednesday, Governor General Simon and the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, Manon Jeannotte, will visit the Pignon Bleu premises in Quebec City for a tour of the community organization’s facilities.

Mary Simon and her troubles with French

• July 2021 – The appointment of Mary Simon, who speaks Inuktitut and English, as governor general has sparked outrage in several French-speaking communities across the country and in Quebec.
• November 2021 – Canada’s Commissioner of Official Languages, Raymond Théberge, concludes that the 1,341 complaints concerning M’s deficiencies in French^me Simon are unfounded.
• December 2023 – In a lengthy interview with Radio-Canada, she claims to have taken more than 184 hours of French classes. After exchanging two sentences with the French-speaking journalist, the discussion switches to English for the rest of the interview.
• July 2024 – The Superior Court rules that the case of a Quebec collective that wants to have the appointment of Mary Simon annulled because she speaks only one of Canada’s two official languages ​​deserves to be heard.