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Simon would be the first Indigenous particular person to function the official consultant of Queen Elizabeth II in Canada and commander-in-chief of the Canadian Armed Forces. It’s a largely ceremonial position though the Queen should approve the appointment after searching for suggestions from the Canadian authorities.
“Immediately, after 154 years, our nation takes a historic step,” Trudeau mentioned at a information convention on Tuesday as he launched Simon. “I can’t consider a greater particular person to satisfy the second.”
As first reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) final 12 months, present and former authorities staff accused Payette of making a poisonous office, harassing and bullying staff and lowering some staff to tears.
The appointment comes at a controversial time in Canada because the nation confronts its historical past of systemic abuse of Indigenous communities, together with pressured assimilation applications.
Throughout her remarks on Tuesday, Simon famous that as an Indigenous particular person, she understands the “ache and struggling” felt throughout the nation.
“And as I mentioned in my remarks, we have to cease to totally acknowledge and memorialize and are available to phrases with the atrocities of our collective previous that we’re studying extra about every day,” Simon mentioned, including that it took “braveness” for Trudeau to nominate her to the place.
Simon was born in Kangiqsualujjuaq, Nunavik, and has served as an advocate for Inuit rights and tradition, in accordance with a Canadian authorities assertion.
She was actively concerned in negotiations that led to the 1982 patriation of the Canadian Structure that formally enshrined Aboriginal and treaty rights within the supreme regulation of Canada.
Simon can also be a former Canadian ambassador for Circumpolar Affairs, former ambassador to Denmark and previous president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, a nationwide Inuit group.
As Simon takes on the position, she hopes she will be “a bridge between the totally different lived realities that collectively make up the tapestry of Canada.”
“I can relate to all individuals regardless of the place they stay, what they hope for or what they should overcome,” she mentioned.
CNN’s Nicole Chavez contributed to this report.
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