Mary Simon
Mary Jeannie May Simon (in Inuktitut syllabics: ; ; born August 21, 1947) is a Canadian civil servant, diplomat, and former broadcaster who has served as the 30th governor general of Canada since July 26, 2021. Simon is Inuk, making her the first Indigenous person to hold the office. Simon was born in Fort Severight (now Kangiqsualujjuaq), Quebec. She briefly worked as a producer and announcer for the CBC Northern Service in the 1970s before entering public service, serving on the board of the Northern Quebec Inuit Association and playing a key role in the Charlottetown Accord negotiations. Simon was Canada's first ambassador for circumpolar affairs from 1994 to 2004, as well as a lead negotiator for the creation of the Arctic Council. She also served as the Canadian ambassador to Denmark from 1999 to 2002. On July 6, 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada had approved the appointment of Simon as the next governor general of Canada. Early life and education Simon was born Mary Jeannie May on August 21, 1947, in Fort Severight (now Kangiqsualujjuaq), Quebec, to Bob May, who was from Manitoba and of English descent, and to her mother, Nancy, an Inuk. Her father had relocated to the north in his youth and became manager of the local Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) store during the early 1950s. He said that he was the first white employee to marry an Inuk, which the HBC banned at the time. Mary Simon's Inuk name is . Simon was raised in a traditional Inuit lifestyle, including hunting, fishing, sewing Inuit clothing, and travelling by dog sled. She credits her mother and maternal grandmother Jeannie Angnatuk for passing on Inuit oral history to her. Simon attended federal day school in Fort Chimo (now Kuujjuaq), then Fort Carson High School in Colorado, and completed her high school via correspondence in Fort Chimo. Career Early career Simon taught Inuktitut at McGill University. From 1969 to 1973, she worked as a producer and announcer for the CBC Northern Service. Simon began her career as a public servant by being elected secretary of the board of directors of the Northern Quebec Inuit Association. In 1978, she was elected as vice-president, and later president, of the Makivik Corporation. She held the position until 1985. During this period she also became involved with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Canada's national Inuit organization. Simon was one of the senior Inuit negotiators during the patriation of the Canadian Constitution, the First Ministers' conferences that took place from 1982 to 1992, as well as the 1992 Charlottetown Accord discussions. She served as a member of the Nunavut Implementation Commission and as co-director (policy) and secretary to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Diplomatic career She took on a variety of roles for the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC). First as an Executive Council member from 1980 to 1983, as president from 1986 to 1992, and then as Special Envoy from 1992 to 1994. During this period