PM Carney will name replacement for Gov. Gen. Mary Simon: sources

Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to announce on Tuesday who will be the next governor general, according to two sources close to the government. They will be replacing Mary Simon, whose term ends this summer.

Simon has been Governor General — the federal representative of the monarch — since July 2021, when she made history by becoming the first Indigenous person to take on the role.

She has faced criticism, however, for her lack of French proficiency, and in an interview with Radio-Canada last month, Carney said Simon’s replacement will speak both official languages.

In an interview with CTV Question Period in September 2024, Simon insisted her lack of French language proficiency did not hinder her ability to represent Canadians. She is bilingual and fluent in both Inuktitut and English.

Since Vincent Massey in 1952 — the first governor general appointed at the recommendation of the prime minister — all governors general have spoken both English and French, though some faced criticism for their lack of fluency in the early days of their tenures.

Before becoming Governor General, Simon was a diplomat — serving as Canada’s ambassador to Denmark from 1999-2002 — and an Inuk leader.

Simon spent six years as chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, a multinational non-governmental organization representing about 180,000 Inuit people in Canada, Greenland and Alaska.

She was also one of nine members of the Nunavut Implementation Commission, which helped navigate the division of the Northwest Territories to create Nunavut.

She is from Nunavik, and attended a federal government day school.

Governors generals are appointed for five-year terms.