Nunavik’s ‘bossy little old lady’ leaves enduring legacy

Canadians now know about ajuinnata — thanks to Gov. Gen. Mary Simon.

She introduced many of us to the Inuit concept of perseverance or never giving up shortly after she became governor general in 2021. That should be her vice-regal legacy.

Ajuinnata was her trademark motto, but she shared it with Canadians and others. It helped set the tone Canadians needed to hear during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her leadership reinforced the message that governments at all levels were promoting.

Five years later, her time as the King’s representative in Canada is winding down. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced this week that former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour will succeed Simon in the coming weeks.

Former prime minister Justin Trudeau announced Simon would become the first Indigenous person to hold that office. It was an appointment steeped in symbolism.

At the time, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed said Simon was “an ideal Governor General for this place and time.”

His assessment proved to be spot on.

Think back to how tumultuous 2021 was: the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canadians were finally coming to terms with the truth of the abuses of Indigenous children at residential schools.

And the previous governor general, former astronaut Julie Payette, had recently crashed and burned after allegations she had turned Rideau Hall into a toxic workplace.

Enter Simon, a calm, mild-mannered Inuk woman. Despite her telling the country that her Inuit name, Ningiukadlak, means bossy little old lady, in public she conveyed serenity, wisdom and grace.

Simon — who experienced online abuse herself, and who shut down comments on her official social media accounts because of it — urged Canadians to stand up to what has become a scourge in Canadian society.

Simon was a friend to Nunatsiaq News and its readers while she was governor general. The Nunavik-born leader made time for several one-on-one interviews, including at the end of 2023 and on last year’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Of course, Simon’s inability to speak French — one of Canada’s two official languages — proved to be controversial … but, not surprisingly, she persevered.

She promised to learn French. With her professional track record, it seemed likely that, with some study, she would achieve a level of proficiency exhibited by many unilingual leaders who must learn French once their career trajectory thrusts them onto the national stage.

Her ability to function in the language of Molière improved slightly but she never demonstrated the proficiency and comfort level typically expected of national leaders.

The country didn’t collapse.

It’s probably good that Arbour is fluent in both English and French — a return to the tradition of having a governor general who can speak both. Some day, there will be a governor general who speaks English, French and an Indigenous language.

It’s not that long ago that governors general spoke only English and were members of the British upper crust — dukes and earls — sent to Canada as a reward.

In 1952, Vincent Massey became the first Canadian-born governor general. And it wasn’t until 1967 that Roland Michner became the first francophone to hold the office.

With her remaining time in Rideau Hall measured in days, it’s appropriate to look at Simon as the governor general Canada didn’t know it needed.