SAINT JOHN, N.B. --
The appointment of Mary Simon as Canada's Governor General is a moment for the history books – as the advocate, ambassador and Inuk leader becomes the country's first ever Indigenous person in that position.
In the Maritimes, Indigenous leaders are welcoming word of the decision, as a monumental moment and major step on the path of reconciliation, as Simon herself has noted.
"To know that it's an Indigenous woman who is going to be representing all Canadians, not just Indigenous, but all Canadians," says Lorraine Whitman of the Native Women's Association of Canada.
"She certainly has the credentials to be able to do it, and so I'm certainly excited in that it is a historical moment."