Salma Lakhani (Photo: Norquest College)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

officially taking office

New lieutenant governor to be installed this Wednesday

Aug 22, 2020 | 3:19 PM

Salma Lakhani will be installed as Alberta’s 19th lieutenant governor in a ceremony this coming Wednesday, Aug. 26

Lakhani was announced as the next LG earlier this summer.

An Ismaili Muslim, Lakhani was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda, and came to Canada in 1977 as a stateless person when all Ugandans of Asian descent were expelled from that nation.

She has served with many organizations such as NorQuest College, the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights, the Lois Hole Hospital for Women, the Aga Kahn Foundation Canada, Kids Kottage, Sorrentino’s Compassion House, the Alberta Cancer Board and the Zebra Foundation.

Lakhani also built a businesses focusing on early childhood education, according to a release from the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta.

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She is replacing Lois Mitchell who was installed as the province’s 18th lieutenant governor in June 2015.

Dating back to George H.V. Bulyea who served from 1905 to 1915, Lakhani will become the fourth female to be put in the role in Alberta, after Mitchell, Lois E. Hole (2000-2005) and Helen Hunley (1985-1991).

In Canada, a lieutenant governor is the highest ranking officer of an individual province, and represent the monarch. Their duties include opening each session of the legislative assembly and providing royal assent to provincial bills.

The ceremony this Wednesday is taking place in the chamber of the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton, and will include an Indigenous blessing, a military general salute, and the oath of office. Premier Jason Kenney and a member of the federal government will be in attendance.

Members of the public can view it LIVE on Assembly TV (Telus Channel 843, Shaw Channel 930, Shaw Blue Curve Channel 263), on the Assembly’s social media pages, or at assembly.ab.ca.

RELATED: Salma Lakhani named Alberta’s lieutenant-governor, first Muslim in role in Canada

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