Iqaluit mental health tour about ‘listening,’ says governor general

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon says this week’s Iqaluit visit is all about hearing people’s personal experiences and their suggestions for dealing with mental health issues in Nunavut and across Canada.

What Rideau Hall calls her Mental Health Learning and Listening Tour is about “listening to people with lived experience across the country, including the North and Indigenous communities,” Simon said in an interview Monday.

“It’s also trying to bring people together that are thinking about, what are the solutions?”

Simon spent part of Monday, her first day in the city, at the Tukisigiarvik Centre. That organization provides a range of Inuit cultural services, including counselling and skills development as well as daily meals and a laundry service.

After viewing a showcase of items such as beadwork and sealskin clothing crafted by Tukisigiarvik participants, she and about a dozen people took part in a private mental health discussion — one of a few planned for her three-day visit that began Monday.

Simon’s visit comes two weeks after the Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. reaffirmed suicide as a “crisis” in the territory.

With that in mind, Simon said there’s a need to reach people at an individual level.

“If you can get that person to come back a bit and just be able to talk to someone about what they are experiencing, you can start to open a discussion about the difficulties that that person experiences, and help them find help,” she said.

“Hope” is also a theme of Simon’s visit, which coincides with Nunavut Day on July 9. She is scheduled to speak during NTI’s public celebration at Nakasuk Elementary School on Wednesday.

Simon reflected on the fourth anniversary of her being named Canada’s first Indigenous governor general, on July 6, 2021.

“I have gotten to know the country all across Canada, much more than I’ve ever had, and I sense that people are working together more and more, especially in the last few months,” she said.

Some of Simon’s predecessors extended the typical five-year mandate for a governor general. At this point, Simon said she has “no clue” whether her term might also be extended a year from now.

“I can’t predict what the future holds.”

“I’m getting on in age, so I have to think about that as well,” the 77-year-old Inuk leader said.

For now, the Nunavik born-and-raised Simon is happy to be in the North with her fellow Inuit.

“I got to talk in my language almost all day, so it’s been a great experience to be back and to see some of my old colleagues and people I’ve worked with before,” she said.

“It’s very grounding for me.”