It cost us $28,000. For this he needed 184 hours of private lessons, two hours per week. But two and a half years after her appointment, Governor General Mary Simon still cannot speak French.
• Also read: Mary Simon and her French: Sophie Durocher is “crinqué”!
• Also read: An Indigenous woman has been appointed lieutenant governor of Quebec
After thirty-six months in office, the one who calls herself “His Excellency” is no longer able to say “excellent” in French.
When you've been learning a language for two and a half years and the only things you can say are “pineapple,” “snow,” “Brussels sprouts,” “sun” and “my dog is a Labrador,” then that's it making fun of the Francophones in the country.
That's an insult!
When she was appointed, Mary Simon (who speaks English and Inuktitut) committed to learning French. On Monday evening, Radio-Canada ran a report on the Téléjournal in which a journalist wanted to meet His Excellency at Rideau Hall to see how things were going. We learned that the private lessons cost $28,000 in public funds…
I don't know how to say “pathetic” in Inuktitut, but let's just say that Ms. Simon's performance deserved the babble of an 8-year-old child… “My dog is a Labrador. His name is Neva (sic).”
“At the beginning of our interview, Mary Simon tried to answer a question or two in French, but became nervous: “I have to start again.” […] because I’ve never done that before,” said the journalist.
“Languages are important for everyone” was one of the few sentences spoken in French during our exchange.”
Languages… except French, His Excellency?
“[Le français] is difficult to learn. I already speak two languages. At my age, 76, it can be very difficult to learn a third, but I am really determined to do it,” she explained (in English) to the (French-speaking) journalist.
If we look for an image that symbolizes the absurdity of this country we call Canada, we couldn't find a better one: an indigenous woman denouncing colonization, but with a French-speaking woman with whom she speaks the language of the colonizer (English) is unable to speak one of the country's two official languages.
On Monday I lost my temper on QUB Radio in a column with my colleague Benoit Dutrizac. Here's one of the comments netizens left next to my milk supply: “She thinks we're fat!” Perhaps she had received advice from certain Canadian players who had spent years at CH and promised us (well!) French to learn, and when he left the club the only word he uttered was Bwonnnejour! »
Except that the Canadiens players aren't paid with taxpayer money.
- Sophie Durocher “cracked” Benoit Dutrizac’s microphone, via QUB Radio:
JUSTIN'S INCONSISTENCY
We agree that Justin Trudeau should never have appointed a person to this position who did not speak both official languages. We also agree that the enormous costs and disproportionate compensation of the GG position are also scandalous. But his inability to express himself in fluent French after two and a half years is truly insulting. This means two things: All employees must act in English. And whenever she meets French-speaking citizens, she will speak to them in English.
How do you say “humiliating” in Inuktitut?