Records show Governor General Mary Simon spent one year and organized 51 meetings to plan and personally host a symposium in support of the Trudeau Liberals' Online Harms bill. Simon had staff contact Attorney General Arif Virani’s deputy before holding the conference, per Blacklock’s Reporter. The Governor General is expected to be “non-partisan and apolitical,” the mission statement for the role reads. Virani in an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the House of Commons denied partisan interference. “The Governor General is a force for good in this country,” wrote Virani.Simon hosted the conference, called ‘Building a Safe and Respectful Digital World,’ on April 11 in support of federal regulation of legal internet content deemed “harmful” by federal agents.“The Attorney General deliberately chose to attend only the luncheon portion of the event,” Virani wrote in the Inquiry. “He attended the luncheon to show his support for the attendees who took the time to share their difficult personal experiences and to discuss the pressing social problems of online safety. To be clear he was not a panelist and chose not to have a formal role in the symposium.”The Inquiry confirmed staff on February 15 contacted Virani’s deputy minister. The purpose was “informal information sharing with colleagues working on issues related to digital respect,” he wrote. .The document was tabled at the request of Conservative MP Rob Moore who asked, “With regard to the symposium named hosted at the Governor General’s residence on April 11, what were the costs associated with the event?”Rideau Hall would not disclose the cost of the conference. “A comprehensive response to this question is not possible,” said the Inquiry. On February 26, the Trudeau Liberals introduced Bill C-63 the Online Harms Act. The bill would mandate that Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms “mitigate the risk that users will be exposed to harmful comment” with monitoring by a five-member Digital Safety Commission.“Let’s transform these conversations into action. Help us create a safer online world,”Simon wrote on her Twitter account at the time of the conference. Conference guests included ex-CTV National News host Lisa LaFlamme, Le Devoir columnist Emilie Nicolas, former Global News reporter Rachel Gilmore, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam, LGBTQ activist Fae Johnstone and Ottawa school trustee Nili Kaplan-Myrth.The Governor General’s office said the meeting was to “bring together individuals who experience online violence and experts from across the country to share their experiences, explore solutions and create allyship and networks of resilience. Participants include academics, journalists, government officials, gender equality advocates, mental health practitioners, tech industry representatives and youth leaders from across the country.”
