Canada’s first Indigenous Governor General is bilingual in Inuktitut and English–not French (DMR)
On July 26, 2021, Mary Simon became Canada’s first Indigenous Governor General (the Queen’s representative and head of state). Gov. Gen. Simon is the first person in that position to be fluent in one of the Indigenous languages of Canada, Inuktitut, as well as English. There has been some controversy and consternation that she is not also fluent in French (as French and English are the two official languages of Canada; tellingly no Indigenous language is official at the federal level, but several are at the provincial or territorial level). Check out Natan Obed (current President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, which Simon led in the past) at 14:20-16:30 and Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond (a First Nations judge, lawyer, and academic) at 43:00-47:15 for their analysis of the importance that Simon is fluent in Inuktitut and the importance of her being in this role. If you’d like to listen to Simon’s speech, that begins at 1:47:00 or so.
What do y’all think if she were to conduct all official business in Inuktitut (but have it all translated into English and French) rather than in the two colonizing/official languages?
725981Some strong points raised here, I hadn’t considered them before. 964520
Looking forward to your next post!
Looking forward to your next post!