Canada’s Governor General visits Wanuskewin Heritage Park

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon made her way to Wanuskewin Heritage Park on Wednesday to take in its rich history.

Her visit followed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to the park on Tuesday, when he highlighted a portion of Indigenous funding that was announced in the federal budget last week.

Simon’s visit included a tour of the museum’s exhibit that tells the stories of the Northern Plains Indigenous peoples and the history of Wanuskewin.

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon stands with students from City Park’s Ecoquest program on Wednesday at Wanuskewin Heritage Park. (Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)

Students from City Park School’s Ecoquest — an outdoor and social justice-focused program for Grade 8 students — had the opportunity to ask Simon questions about her role.

Simon said it’s an honour to be Canada’s first indigenous Governor General.

“Being Indigenous allows me to talk to the Indigenous community with lived experience, which I think really deepens the relationship between the Governor General and Indigenous people,” she said.

Simon also touched on the topic of climate change which, as an individual from Canada’s Arctic, is something she has seen firsthand.

“The ice is melting as fast as it can melt, the glaciers are breaking (and) the sea ice is becoming very thin,” she said. “Climate change is very real in the north and Arctic regions.”

Simon also talked about Truth and Reconciliation and the relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people working together.

“It has to come from a place where we can tell each other our stories and understand these stories of what (the) Indigenous peoples of Canada have gone through,” she said.

“It means having hard discussions with each other about what kind of changes we need to make as individuals.”

This is the Governor General’s first official visit to Saskatchewan, which started in Regina on Monday.