Whit Fraser, the spouse of Governor Mary Simon and a former CBC journalist, has criticized Quebec media for reporting on Simon’s French skills during a visit to the province in late September.
In a Facebook post published Friday, Fraser wrote that when Simon became Canada’s governor-general, he accepted that he sometimes had to “bite his tongue.”
“Today is an exception,” Fraser said. “The increasing amount of BS coming out of the Quebec media highlights two things that I will always fight against: my wife and the journalism that has been so good to me.”
Fraser called Le Journal de Québec directly. After Simon visited a food bank in Leavis, Kenya, the news organization published an article stating that most of the conversation during the visit was in English.
Fraser said in a statement to CBC News that he was referring to several articles and radio broadcasts, including one in Le Journal.
The trip was interrupted after Simon visited a food bank. In a Sept. 26 statement responding to critical press coverage of his language skills, Simon said he understands “the importance of French as an important part of our culture and identity for French-speaking Canadians.” said.
“That is one of the reasons why, when I took on the role of Governor-General, I decided to dedicate myself to learning French and continue to practice, improve and use all three languages.”
Mr. Simon is Canada’s first Indigenous governor-general and is fluent in English and Inuktitut. She was educated at a federal nursery school in Quebec’s Nunavik region, but has previously said she was not given the opportunity to learn French as a child.
A Rideau Hall spokesperson said in August that Simon began French lessons in July 2021.
“There’s so much hypocrisy I can’t stand it.”
Fraser said that while Simon had done important work in Quebec, including highlighting its own food aid program, “overnight he received outrage from six more newspapers and radio stations in both ‘official languages.’ “I was flooded with voices,” he wrote.
“No one asked me if I had ever tried to learn Inuktitut, the governor’s indigenous language,” Fraser wrote.
Journalists who reported critically about Simon’s language skills refused to acknowledge that she was not taught French in Quebec schools, even though she grew up in the province. There’s too much hypocrisy,” Fraser added.
In response to the critical coverage, Fraser wrote, “a group of volatile Quebec politicians, including federal Liberal ministers, jumped on the bandwagon.”
Fraser did not specify which politicians he was referring to in his post.
After the Facebook post, Fraser told CBC News: “I stand by every word, but at least for the time being I have nothing more to say.”
CBC News also reached out to Rideau Hall for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Litigation over Governor General’s appointment ongoing
Simon’s ability to speak French is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit seeking to overturn his appointment as governor general.
The legal challenge, filed in Quebec Superior Court in 2022, argues that Simon, who was appointed Crown Agent in Canada in 2021, cannot serve in the position because he does not speak French.
The two groups that filed the challenge, Droit Collectif Québec and Justice Pour le Québec, argued that the federal government’s appointment of Simon to the position despite not being fluent in French violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It alleges that it violates two provisions.
In August, the Quebec Superior Court rejected an application by the Attorney General of Canada to have the case thrown out. The court ruled that the case could proceed and be heard on its merits.
However, the judge in the case said in his ruling that both groups will need to submit amended submissions to prove their connection to the case.
