Alberta has a new lieutenant-governor. The Honourable Salma Lakhani was installed during a ceremony at the legislature Wednesday afternoon to become the first Muslim in this country’s history to hold the position.
“Mine is the story of a person whose presence before you in this capacity today is made possible, even probable, by a single fact: that it happened in Canada,” she remarked during the ceremony, “A place where the realization of unlikely stories occurs not by accident, but by design. While my story may sound unique, it is also the story of Alberta… a place where individual stories are woven into our collective tapestry… a province whose narrative is defined by the generations of stories of hope.”
Lakhani was born and raised in Uganda and has lived in Edmonton for more than four decades. Over the years she’s been awarded the Alberta Centennial Medal for outstanding achievements in the province as well as the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for service to Canada.
Outgoing Lieutenant-Governor Lois Mitchell has held the post for the past five years.