WABASCA – A routine visit to Alberta’s legislature turned into a “once-in-a-lifetime” visit from Alberta’s royal representative more than a year later after a Grade 6 class bumped into the Lieutenant Governor in a hallway last year.
Lt. Gov. Salma Lakhani made the trip up to Wabasca’s Mistassiniy School to see the community, speak with students, and share her own story, which had the kids hanging off her every word during the presentation.
"The visit from the Lieutenant Governor to Mistassiniy School is truly an honour for Northland School Division,” said Northland School Division’s superintendent and CEO of schools Cal Johnson.
“This provided unique learning opportunities for students. Students were able to learn about Alberta’s history, government, and the Lieutenant Governor’s role, helping them understand responsibility and leadership. Experiences like this create lasting memories and encourage students to dream big about their future."
Lakhani’s trip came about following a chance encounter at the Alberta Legislature. Christoph Ruge, a teacher at St. Theresa School in Wabasca, brought the Grade 6 students on a field trip to the Legislature. During their visit, they ran across Lakhani in the halls, who invited the students into her chambers.
At the end of the visit, Lakhani expressed interest in visiting Wabasca, a comment Ruge made sure to follow up on earlier this year.
“We had to really coordinate with her security team as well as her secretary to make sure we were following all the protocols that were required,” said Mistassiniy principal Karen Davies. “We had to write up a proposal of what the visit would look like, down to the very minute.”
Once the details had been ironed out, students were free to focus on the unique opportunity the visit represented. Lakhani, who was born in Uganda, was left a stateless refugee — a type of refugee that doesn’t have a passport to a home nation — after President Idi Amin ordered the expulsion of the country’s Indian minority in 1972.
Davies said the staff focused on leadership, both for the school’s student council and the young women who took part in the day.
“We have girls who are minorities and who don’t always have the same opportunities so we wanted to help them meet someone who had come from the same sort of background, and who had overcome all of those things to become the Lieutenant Governor,” said Davies.
“It’s an amazing story.”
Grade 12 students Zain Ibdah and Avery Auger-Gladue had the opportunity to tour Lakhani through their school and they made the most of the 20 minutes.
“Those girls really commented on how amazing it was to be able to talk to her and meet her and see the things she’s overcome. They were really excited about that,” said Davies.
Beyond the tour guides, Davies said the entire student body was receptive to the presentation. Staff stressed the “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity the visit represented, noting Lakhani doesn’t go to every school.
“When they were listening to her story they were very engaged — her story is very interesting and it was pretty cool,” she said.
Lakhani spoke about the importance of education, perseverance, and resilience and leadership, pulling examples from her own life along the way.
After the 1972 expulsion, she completed her Honours degree in Clinical Biochemistry from the University of Manchester in England, before moving to Edmonton when her husband was accepted into the University of Alberta for postgraduate studies.
Lakhani threw herself into volunteering later in life, working with NorQuest College’s Youth in Transition program, becoming a founding member of the college’s 1,000 Women: A Million Possibilities movement, and serving on a number of boards for charities. She was appointed the province’s vice-regal in 2020.
