Governor General Mary May Simon with APTN News in Germany. Photo courtesy: Office of the Governor General
Clerks at the historic Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof Hotel in Frankfurt, Germany fumbled with the thermostat in a closed back room, trying to bring the temperature down in the minutes before Governor General Mary May Simon‘s first media interview since beginning her three-day state visit to Germany.
“I like the cold,” Simon – Canada’s first Inuk Governor General – said while stepping into the book-lined space.
Even as the temperature dropped a few degrees, the heat stayed on for APTN News.
We were one of only two media outlets that travelled to Germany with a Canadian delegation during the country’s first state visit to Germany in 20 years.
Here’s how it played out.
Simon and reporter Lindsay Richardson discuss the state visit, Canada’s international profile, Germany’s ties to reconciliation, and the importance of Inuit representation overseas.
Media outlets were granted a ten-minute sit-down with Her Excellency on the last leg of the trip – though the list of talking points on the historic occasion could have stretched much, much longer.
The conversation continues with an exploration of domestic issues – including protection of Indigenous languages in Canada, COVID-19 outbreaks and low vaccination rates in the North, and the debate over systemic racism in Quebec.
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