Governor General Mary Simon to open Greenland consulate on Friday
· Toronto Sun
OTTAWA — The Governor General will arrive in Greenland Friday morning, Rideau Hall said.
Governor General Mary Simon, as part of the third leg of her weeklong Nordic tour , is scheduled to arrive in Nuuk a little after 11:15 a.m. local time. There, she’ll be met by Canadian and Greenlandic officials.
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According to Rideau Hall, the trip will “ focus on reinforcing the close historic and cultural bonds between Inuit in Canada and Greenland.”
The visit will see Simon and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand officially open a new Canadian Consulate in Nuuk with the aim to strengthen Canada’s regional leadership.
Consulate opening ceremony on Friday
That opening ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. Greenland time (11 a.m. ET) and will consist of an outdoor flag raising.
Anand will arrive for the ceremony with a number of leaders of Canada’s Inuit.
While no permanent consul has yet to be appointed, veteran Ottawa diplomat Julie Croteau was named the acting head of post in November.
Croteau previously served as Global Affairs Canada’s director of Nordic and Polar Regions and served in roles at Canada’s embassies in Greece, Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A Global Affairs spokesperson told CTV News that a permanent consul will be appointed in the future. That will be followed by a visit with Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and a reception commemorating Canada’s renewed diplomatic ties with Greenland.
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Simon previously visited Denmark, Norway
On Saturday, Simon is scheduled to tour the CCGS Jean Goodwill , a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker, before meeting with members of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference Greenland and Denmark’s Arctic Council.
Simon’s much-publicized Greenland visit comes as regional tensions grow amidst U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims of wanting to annex the semi-autonomous Danish territory as a means to bolster American national security.
Simon arrived in Norway earlier this week to attend the Arctic Frontiers conference before arriving in Denmark on Wednesday.
There, she met with Denmark’s King Frederik X to discuss shared priorities between the two nations and unveiled a room named in her honour at the Canadian Embassy in Copenhagen.
This week marks the first Canadian governor general visit to Denmark since 1981 and the first to Norway since 2009.
Simon previously served as Canada’s ambassador to Denmark, having been appointed in 1999.