Simon to deliver Symons Lecture on the State of Canadian Confederation

National Inuit Leader Mary Simon, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, has devoted her life to advancing the rights and improving the well-being of Inuit in Canada and throughout the circumpolar world. On November 3, 2009, she visits Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, the birthplace of confederation, to accept a prestigious invitation to speak about the place of Inuit in Canadian confederation.

Inuit have made valuable contributions to global discussions on climate change, indigenous rights and sovereignty, and now play an essential role in international discussions about arctic waters, marine transportation, environmental initiatives and the future of international Arctic relations generally.

Simon will receive the 2009 Symons Medal and will deliver the 7th Symons Lecture on the State of Canadian Confederation. Her lecture, titled “Our Arctic, Our Canada,” will explore the many contributions Inuit have and continue to make to the evolution of Canada as a nation.

“Mary Simon is a timely choice as eyes in the south of Canada turn North on issues of aboriginal rights and social justice, national sovereignty, climate change and economic development,” said H. Wayne Hambly, Chairman of the Fathers of Confederation Buildings Trust.

The Symons Lecture was established in 2004 by the Trust to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1964 opening of Charlottetown’s Confederation Centre of the Arts, a national memorial to the Fathers of Confederation who met in Charlottetown in 1864.

The annual lecture provides a national platform for Canadians distinguished in public life and public discourse to comment upon the state of the Canadian confederation, as well as an occasion for Canadians to consider major questions that may confront us.

“We welcome Mary Simon as she joins the distinguished line of past Symons Medal recipients and Symons Lecturers,” said Hambly.

Symons lecturers have included the Honourable Jean Charest, Premier of Québec; the Honourable Dennis Fentie, Premier of the Yukon; the Honourable Roy McMurtry, Chief Justice of Ontario; Mark Starowicz, the documentary and broadcast journalist; the Honourable Peter Lougheed, former Premier of Alberta; and the Honourable John Crosbie, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Last year, the lecture was delivered by the Honourable Beverly Mclachlan, the Chief Justice of Canada and Ian Wilson, the Librarian and Archivist of Canada.

The medal ceremony and hour-long lecture will take place on Tuesday, November 3, 2009, at 1 p.m. in the Confederation Centre’s Homburg Theatre. It will be followed by a press conference and a “fireside discussion” with students from Atlantic Canada universities.

In the evening, Simon will attend a private reception at Province House in the Legislative Assembly, the rooms where the creation of Canada was first discussed in 1864. All the seats will be removed from the Legislative Assembly to allow for this historic event.

The Symons lecture is open to the public. There is no charge for admission but tickets are required. To reserve tickets, please contact the box office at 902/566-1267 or 800/565-0278. The lecture will be also broadcast live online at www.confederationcentre.com.

For more information, please contact

Patricia D’Souza, communications officer
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
dsouza@itk.ca; 613/292-4482