Quebec Superior Court can hear case calling on removal of Gov. Gen. due to lack of French

Wed, August 9, 2023 


The court challenge, filed in Quebec Superior Court last summer, argues that Simon, who took over as the Crown's representative in Canada in 2021, cannot hold the position because she does not speak French. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press - image credit)

Quebec Superior Court has the jurisdiction to hear a case calling on Gov. Gen. Mary Simon to be removed from her post because she cannot speak French, according to a Quebec Superior Court judge.

The Attorney General of Canada had tried to argue that only the federal court could look into such a case, but Judge Catherine Piché rejected the claim in June.

The court challenge, filed in Quebec Superior Court last summer, argues that Simon, who took over as the Crown's representative in Canada in 2021, cannot hold the position because she does not speak French — one of the country's official languages.

The plaintiffs, a group of Quebecers, would like to see Simon's appointment invalidated.

Simon, who was educated in a federal day school in Quebec's Nunavik region, says she was not given the opportunity to learn French as a child. She has promised to try to learn it in her position as governor general.

The federal government had filed a declinatory exception, a procedure aimed at having the case heard by another body.

To justify its request, lawyers for the Attorney General of Canada cited section 18 of the Federal Courts Act, which says that "the federal court has exclusive jurisdiction [...] to render a declaratory judgment against any federal agency."

However, the Governor General cannot be considered a federal officer, as she was appointed by Queen Elizabeth II — the predecessor of Charles III — and the Crown is not part of the government, said Piché in a 15-page ruling handed down on June 13.

In this context, "the court is of the opinion that the present case falls within the jurisdiction of the Quebec Superior Court and that the declinatory exception must be rejected," she wrote.

The federal government had 30 days to appeal the judgment. They did not do so, François Boulianne, the plaintiffs' lawyer, said on Tuesday.

The case will be heard by the Quebec Superior Court, with proceedings expected to resume in the fall.

The group that filed the lawsuit was originally led by former Parti Québécois (PQ) leadership candidate Frédéric Bastien, who died a few weeks before the ruling was published. The case is expected to proceed despite Bastien's death.

Quebec court says it can hear challenge to governor general's lack of French

Wed, August 9, 2023 at 10:41 a.m. MDT

MONTREAL — The Quebec Superior Court has ruled that it can hear a challenge to the appointment of Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, who isn't fluent in French.

Several groups are seeking to have Simon's appointment declared null and void because they say the governor general is constitutionally required to communicate in both official languages.

The attorney general of Canada had argued that only the Federal Court could hear the case.

But Justice Catherine Piché said in her June ruling that the appointment of the governor general doesn't fall within one of the specific circumstances that would require the case be heard by the Federal Court.

François Boulianne, the lawyer for the groups challenging Simon's appointment, says he expects the case to return to court in the fall.

Justice pour le Québec, which is taking part in the case, says it will pursue the challenge despite the death in May of its president, Frédéric Bastien, a historian and former Parti Québécois leadership candidate.

"The issue is the principle, it's not Mary Simon herself, it's respect for the Constitution," Boulianne said in an interview.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 9, 2023.