Simon calls for kindness and spirit of ajuinnata in year-end message
Third end-of-year address by Nunavik’s Mary Simon since being appointed Governor General in 2021
Gov. Gen. Mary Simon says Canadians have “grappled with the effects of global conflict and the pressures of living in modern times” in 2023 in this image from her annual new year’s message. Canada’s first Inuk Governor General released her third new year’s message Friday just as Canadians prepare to ring in 2024. (Image courtesy of the Office of the Governor General)
Governor General Mary Simon called on Canadians to “commit ourselves to action, and to kindness” in her annual year-end message.
Her hopeful words come just days before the start of a new year certain to be marked by divisive issues, including the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas and the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
As King Charles did in his Christmas message, Simon noted “the rising consequences of climate change” among the challenges Canadians have faced.
“We have grappled with the effects of global conflict and the pressures of living in modern times,” she said in a video message released to the public on Friday, three days before Canadians ring in 2024.
“Yet, we have also witnessed important strides in reconciliation, celebrated new chapters in history and took steps toward making the internet a safer place for women and girls.”
In February, Simon drew widespread media coverage when she temporarily shut down commenting on her social media pages following what she called at the time “an increase in abusive, misogynistic and racist” posts.
The year-end message is a tradition for Governors General and it is the third for Simon since she was appointed to her position in July 2021.
She was raised in Nunavik and is Canada’s first Inuk Governor General.
As she did in her first message, Simon used the Inuktitut word ajuinnata, meaning never give up, as a spirit that all Canadian can aspire to.
She began her two-and-a-half minute pre-recorded speech with a few words in Inuktitut before reflecting on some of the people she met in her travels during 2023 and the stories they told her. She called on people to “rekindle our connections to one another.”
She spoke while seated at a desk in Rideau Hall in Ottawa, and the video included clips of firefighters battling forest fires, homes damaged by coastal storms and footage from Simon’s travels, including her honouring members of the Canadian Armed Forces.
“We all have the power to contribute to the well-being of our country,” Simon said.
“In this way, kindness – far from being an accidental act – emerges as a powerful and purposeful choice in the face of adversity.”
🤔😂 🛑 wasting our tax money B$$$$
Please feel free to move to another country where you won’t be required to pay tax!!!
the GG award is getting watered down when it is an important recognition of work done. not paid work but beyond that including those who help showcase or promote our land Nunavut. this is how it seemed in the first years.
Delusional ideologies and dirty diapers Mary! Expect me to be kind in this corrupted society? Wolves must feed on anything but themselves until it’s utterly the last means of survival
Ajuinnata in another dialect means..”Let’s stay incompetent”