Governor-General meets Albertans, hears about 'challenges they're facing'

The King's representative to Canada is in Alberta for her first official visit to the province.

Governor-General Mary Simon is spending five days in the province, meeting with local leaders and raising awareness on a variety of issues affecting Canadians.

Simon started her tour at the 4 Wing Cold Lake fighter base in honour of the centennial of the Royal Canadian Air Force, where she and her husband Whit Fraser were greeted with a short ceremony.

Afterward, the pair visited a Cold Lake First Nation school to meet with children, staff and Elders.

Indigenous language revitalization and preservation are among several issues Simon plans to address during her visit. In addition to raising awareness, she will recognize several Albertans for their services in their communities.

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On Saturday, the governor-general visited Jasper National Park to meet with the community and see first-hand the notable efforts many in the community have made to help with the town's wildfire recovery.

"It's to show our support and the contributions that I think we try to make to make people feel that they're bringing their life back together and addressing the very real issues that they have been confronted with," Simon said.

Simon will spend most of her Alberta visit in the capital region, and on Sunday, she met with members of the C5 North East Community Hub, a collective of five social service agencies in Clareview.

There, she took an African dance class and made soup and Bannock for the community.

Governor-General Mary Simon meets with community members at the C5 Northeast Community Hub in Edmonton on Oct. 27, 2024. (Adel Ahmed/CTV News Edmonton)"It's been very inspiring to see the organizations come together ... people who work together to address issues being faced by individuals," Simon told media on Sunday at the community hub.

 

She said her visit to Alberta "provides me with a real opportunity to get to know people living in their regions and the challenges they're facing."

On Monday, Simon is scheduled to visit MacEwan University for a fireside chat and panel discussion on the impact of online harassment and online safety.

Later that day, she will take part in a luncheon on economic reconciliation at Government House, before she invests seven Albertans into the Order of Canada.

Simon will wrap up her trip on Tuesday with a visit to the Alberta legislature and a meeting with Premier Danielle Smith and Indigenous leaders.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson and Adel Ahmed