THE POMP TYPICALLY PART OF THE INSTALLATION OF CANADA'S GOVERNOR GENERAL WILL BE PARED DOWN MONDAY DUE TO COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS AS MARY SIMON BECOMES THE FIRST INDIGENOUS PERSON TO HOLD THE POSITION.
OTTAWA • When Mary Simon walks into the Senate on Monday to be installed as the country's next governor general, she will find the upper chamber sparsely populated.
The installation ceremonies for Simon's predecessors have attracted hundreds of people packed tightly into the Senate, including cabinet ministers, senators, MPS, justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, dignitaries and invited guests.
For Simon, there will be 44 people in attendance to view the ceremony in-person to follow public health guidelines.
Federal officials planning the ceremony say public health rules will also require everyone to wear masks and be physically distant.
Officials are also making a rare request for Canadians to not line the streets around the building or the nearby National War Memorial where Simon will lay a wreath after officially becoming commander-in-chief.
Instead, they are encouraging people to watch the broadcast of the ceremony that will include traditional Inuit elements as Simon becomes the country's first Indigenous governor general.
In a tweet, Simon said she and husband Whit Fraser were “immensely proud and excited” as they prepared for Monday's installation ceremony.
“We hope you will tune in to experience this meaningful event alongside us,” read the tweet sent from the official account of the governor general.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named Simon, an Inuk leader and former Canadian diplomat, as his choice to be the Queen's representative in Canada earlier this month, replacing Julie Payette, who resigned in January after a review found Rideau Hall had become a toxic workplace.
The appointment came amid grief and anger at the federal government over the historic and current treatment of Indigenous people in Canada after several First Nations used ground-penetrating radar to find what are believed to be the unmarked graves of children at former residential schools.
Simon's first speech as governor general will touch on the themes of youth and reconciliation, but the text of the address was still being worked on late last week.
Before the installation ceremony starts, there will be a lighting of a traditional Inuit oil lamp, called a Qulliq, inside the Senate chamber. It will remain lit during the ceremony.
Simon is also to be greeted at the Senate building by the Ottawa River Singers, an Indigenous drumming circle. Once inside the building, and after being greeted by Indigenous leaders, Simon will make her way to the chamber being accompanied by a traditional Inuit drummer.