Lecturer:

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon was sworn in on July 26, 2021, as Canada’s first Indigenous governor general. She is the 30th governor general since Confederation.

Mary Simon was born on August 21, 1947, in Kangiqsualujjuaq, Nunavik (Quebec), to Nancy May (Angnatuk-Askew), her Inuk mother, and Bob Mardon May, her father, who moved to the Arctic to work for the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Ms. Simon gained national and international recognition for her work on Arctic and Indigenous issues and for her efforts in advocating for Inuit rights, youth, education and culture.

Ms. Simon began her career as a radio broadcaster with the CBC Northern Service (now CBC North) in the 1970s. Following this, she held a series of executive positions with the Northern Quebec Inuit Association (now Makivik Corporation) and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, which centred on negotiating the first land claims agreement in Canada, the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement. As president of Makivik Corporation, she was directly involved with the implementation of the agreement, along with the protection and promotion of Inuit rights.