A report published in June by an online platform identified as the “Buffalo Chronicle” claimed that Queen Elizabeth II was “‘forced’ to select Canada’s next Governor-General because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had been ‘negligent’ in his duty to recommend a timely replacement.” The article provides no concrete evidence – aside from anonymous sources – to support this claim.
The article cited unknown and anonymous sources to promote speculation about who the Queen would choose as the new Governor General.
The article claims that the Queen was “shocked and offended” that Prime Minister Trudeau would call an election without appointing a Governor General. There is no evidence to support this claim.
On July 6, 2021, Queen Elizabeth approved Prime Minister Trudeau’s nomination of Mary Simon to the post of Governor General.
Misinformation about the nomination of the Governor General serves to undermine the Prime Minister’s credibility and statements about Queen Elizabeth “being forced to appoint a Governor-General to oversee the election’s integrity” cast doubt about the legitimacy of Canada’s elections.
Stories published by the Buffalo Chronicle have been cited and amplified by Canadian conspiracy theory platform Global Research, which has been identified by the US State Department’s Global Engagement Center as a “pillar” of Russian disinformation.
Canadian investigative journalist Justin Ling analyzed and exposed several misleading and false stories published by the Buffalo Chronicle and was later attacked on social media for doing so. The Buffalo Chronicle was later identified by BuzzFeed as publishing disinformation about Prime Minister Trudeau ahead of the 2019 federal elections.
