Global Courant 2023-05-08 07:31:00
Governor General Mary Simon says it is “hard to say” whether King Charles III can apologize for the Crown’s legacy of colonialism, but stressed she is more interested in concrete action.
“These excuses are very complicated,” she told CTV National News’ Chief News Anchor and Senior Editor Omar Sachedina on Sunday, reflecting on the king’s coronation. “And it took many years before we got an apology from the Canadian government. Years of work. The residential schools issue dragged on for many years before the pope apologized. So it is difficult to say exactly whether there are excuses.”
Simon was one of the members of the Canadian delegation at Westminster Abbey when the king was officially crowned on Saturday.
As she observed the proceedings, she said she thought about the “historical nature of the event.”
“And the organ and the choir – the music was just phenomenal, really out of this world,” she said. “An entire experience.”
Simon had also played a vital role in securing a meeting between King Charles III and the First Nations chiefs, Inuit and Metis just a few days before the coronation.
“I was thinking what we could do to start our conversation with the king, and I felt it would be very important if the three national indigenous leaders could meet him,” she said. “I arranged a phone call with His Majesty and spoke to him about it. And he was open to it. So the next step was to call each of the national indigenous leaders and see if they were open to a conversation with the king or not. And everyone agreed it was a good idea.”
Assembly of First Nations Chief RoseAnne Archibald, Métis National Council President Cassidy Caron and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed all attended Thursday’s meeting and attended the coronation on Saturday.
Simon said forward momentum and concrete actions are more important to her than apologies.
“An apology is made up of words, and it makes people feel good and to some extent process their trauma, but if you don’t take action after that, it remains static,” she said.
Watch the full interview with Governor General Mary Simon at the top of this article.
