Credit: gg.ca

By Mel Rothenburger

Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: New governor-general the right person to build bridges

Jul 26, 2021 | 4:17 AM

KAMLOOPS — THE SWEARING IN of Canada’s 30th governor general today is cause to feel good about our country and what it stands for.

Not just because Mary Simon is a woman. That glass ceiling was broken 27 years ago when Jeanne Sauvé was named to the position. Five of the last eight governors-general have been women.

And not just because Mary Simon isn’t white — her mother was Inuk. True, for most of its history, Canada has had white governors-general, many of them earls and dukes and viscounts and lords and such.

But we’ve certainly had our share of governors general with diverse ethnic backgrounds, too. Ever since we started appointing our own gov-gens — with the Queen signing off on them, of course — we’ve had people with names like Hnatyshyn and Schreyer, we’ve alternated between francophones and anglophones, we’ve had a black governor-general in Michaëlle Jean and a Hong Kong-born governor-general in Adrienne Clarkson.

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No, the obvious reason Mary Simon is so different is that she’s indigenous. The importance of that fact can’t be under-estimated. Her appointment is a statement affirming that hopes for reconciliation live.

But Simon is not simply a symbolic appointment. She also happens to be highly qualified. Aside from her work on indigenous issues, she has experience in the media and served as Canada’s first ambassador of circumpolar affairs and then as an ambassador for Canada in Europe and was involved in negotiations for repatriation of the Canadian constitution. She’s also been recognized with a long list of prestigious awards. We shouldn’t be concerned about the fact she’s never learned French. She’s committed to do so, as modern-day governors-general must.

Simon’s constitutional experience will, no doubt, prove useful when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decides to send Canadians to the polls for another federal election.

Mary Simon has been described as someone who has spent her life building bridges. Canada needs just such a person right now.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.