Earlier this summer, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia Janet Austin included Creston in her first official visit to the Kootenays.
The duties of the Lieutenant Governor — the Crown’s representative in the province — include a regular schedule of visits to B.C.’s regions. However, those duties were interrupted by two years of the pandemic, so Austin is only now starting to resume them.
“This is an area of the province I hadn’t been able to travel to [as Lieutenant Governor] during the pandemic,” she said. “So it was really our first priority to come here.”
Austin, who was named B.C.’s 30th Lieutenant Governor in April 2018, grew up in Calgary, and spent a lot of time in the Kootenays in her earlier life.
“It’s a spectacular place, with a warm and welcoming culture,” she said.
Reconciliation was very much a theme of her visit to the Kootenays. And while the office of Lieutenant Governor is largely seen as a ceremonial one, Austin says its voice and visibility can play an important role.
Reconciliation is an ongoing process through which Indigenous peoples and the Crown work to establish and maintain a framework for living together and overcoming historic issues.
“In my role, I do represent a historic colonial institution,” said Austin. “But I think who better to be a visible and a vocal advocate for reconciliation and to stand up and say we need to come to grips with the legacy of colonialism and the harms of the past. I think we have certainly done our best to do that through the office of the Lieutenant Governor.”
Austin also focuses on the themes of diversity, inclusion, respect for pluralism and equality, which, she says, is an extension of the work she did previously, professionally and as a volunteer.
“It’s a real privilege to be able to continue to champion things that have meant a lot to me,” she said.
On June 1, Austin visited the Yaqan Nukiy School in the Creston Valley to meet the teachers and tour the classrooms.
“I asked [the students] to teach me a few words in Ktunaxa and just talked to them about their perception of reconciliation,” she said. “A group of them demonstrated the student’s pledge in Ktunaxa, which was lovely.”
From the teachers, Austin learned about the approach to teaching at Yaqan Nukiy school, which includes learning in outdoor classrooms, lessons in the Ktunaxa language, and hands-on cultural activities like canoe-making.
“As I understand it, it’s a mix of traditional academic learning nested in a cultural context,” said Austin. “It’s really very impressive. I really appreciate the opportunity to visit and being welcomed so warmly here by the principal, the teachers, and the students.”
Also on her visit, Austin visited the Aqamnik School in Cranbrook, the Southeast Fire Centre in Castlegar, Nelson’s downtown and the Selkirk College Victoria Street Campus.
- With files from Trevor Crawley