Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday named Mary Simon as Canada’s 30th Governor General. A diplomat and long time advocate for Inuit rights, she will be the first Indigenous person to hold the post.
The second highest office in the country after the monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II, the Governor General is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister and is the federal representative of the monarch.
Calling it a historic step, Trudeau made the announcement at the Canadian Museum of History in Quebec.
Thanking the Queen and Trudeau, Simon said she’s “honoured, humbled, and ready” for the job.
Her announcement comes at a crucial time- the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves of Indigenous children on the grounds of former residential schools has further heightened a long going discourse on Indigenous rights and Canada’s mistreatment of its Indigenous people.