Governor General Mary Simon Becomes CHFI's Patron

The Canadian Health and Fitness Institute (CHFI), is delighted to announce the Right Honourable Governor General Mary Simon as its official Vice-Regal Patron as of October, 2023

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary May 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 20, 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.

Governor General Simon’s viceregal patronage comes hard on the heels of CHFI’s biggest

project ever, logging over 400,000 hours of healthy physical activity. This was part of a

project to mark #LetsMoveCanada, National Indigenous Physical Activity Awareness Week

and National Health and Fitness Day.