Canada swears in first indigenous governor general

The Inuit rights advocate mary Simon has become Canada's first indigenous government general at her swearing-in ceremony in Ottawa.

They pledged to build bridges across the diverse backgrounds and cultures in Canada at a time when the country is reckoning with It past Courtney Bainbridge has more do you swear that you will well and truly serve her majesty, Queen Elizabeth, in the office of keeper of the great seal of Canada  do with those two simple words history was made and mary Simon became Canada's first indigenous governor general today is an important and historic day for Canada but my story to these chambers began very far from where I was born genie mary Jeannie  prime minister it means a bossy little old lady.  

She serves as the official representative for queen Elizabeth Canada's head of state and she's already had a virtual audience with the monarch but her appointment comes at a time 

when the country is grappling with its colonial past this year hundreds of unmarked graves have been found at former residential schools where indigenous children were taken after being forcibly separated from their families the schools often places of neglect and abuse were run by the catholic church and part of a larger colonial policy to erase indigenous language.

Culture in recent weeks more than a dozen churches have been burned across Canada and statues toppled of queen Elizabeth and queen victoria who reigned over the country when the first residential schools were opened in the late 1800s mary Simon was a student at a day school similar to the residential schools and says her appointment marks an important step forward on the long path towards reconciliation to meet this moment as governor-general.

I will strive to hold together the tension of the past with the promise of the future she was nominated by prime minister Justin Trudeau after the sudden resignation of her predecessor amid bullying allegations this is a big place this is a diverse place and so we need people like ms Simon because we need people who build bridges and bring us together with the message of unity from the prime minister but his minority government is increasingly butting heads with opposition parties so one of mary Simon's first official tasks may be to dissolve parliament.