Raymond Théberge

Raymond Théberge (born 1952 in Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes, Manitoba ) is the former Commissioner of Official Languages of Canada, having held this position from 2018 to 2026. He was previously the ninth President and Vice-Chancellor of the Université de Moncton from June 1, 2012, to January 26, 2018.

Early life and education Théberge holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from McGill University (1984), a Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics from the University of Ottawa (1976) and a Bachelor of History degree from the Université de Saint-Boniface (1973).

Career After having finished his Ph. D., Théberge served as Director General of the Société franco-manitobaine for 1 year.

Raymond Théberge has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed publications, 84 papers and presentations, three books, a bibliography and 45 research projects on education, community, communication, culture and economics.

Public service Raymond Théberge then entered the Canadian public service as a senior official. From 2004 to 2005, he was Assistant Deputy Minister of the Bureau de l’éducation française in Manitoba's Department of Education, Citizenship and Youth. From 2005 to 2009, he headed the Council of Ministers of Education of Canada (CMEC) as executive director. He began his duties as Commissioner on January 29, 2018.

Nomination of Mary Simon as governor general

On July 19, 2021 Théberge confirmed that his office would "investigate the process for nominating governors general" in Canada, following over 400 complaints to his Office that the governor general designate, Mary Simon, does not speak French. Simon is fluent in English and Inuktitut, and has committed to learning French as part of her mandate. The governor general is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch.

The investigation will target the Privy Council Office for its advisory role in the governor general selection process. In an official statement, Théberge addressed a perception of nominations to high offices in Canada. "Too often, I see a discourse that puts respect for diversity and inclusion on one hand, and respect for official languages on the other, as if they could not coexist. I would like to remind decision-makers that it is entirely possible to respect official languages while being inclusive.". In the same statement, Théberge nonetheless noted that Simon's appointment could enable her to help preserve Indigenous and minority languages in Canada. Since the adoption of the Official Languages Act in 1969, two unilingual anglophone governors general were appointed: Ed Schreyer and Ray Hnatyshyn. Neither they nor the process for their nomination was investigated by the Commissioner for Official Languages at the time.