Opening Ceremony Greetings

Elder Jackie Bromley

On January 31, 2023, Blood Tribe member liminaakii (Artimissia Jackie Bromley) received the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal during an awards ceremony at the McDougall Centre in Calgary, Alberta.

The ceremony was held to honour Jackie and thirty-four other recipients of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for their dedication and service to their communities, organizations and professions. Jackie Bromley, who was nominated by the Aboriginal Friendship Centre of Calgary, has received the medal for her community involvement, where she spent over 30 years in housing for urban Indigenous people. Jackie states that she has committed to empowering Indigenous people living in the Calgary and Lethbridge areas and cities there are many challenges and barriers they face including discrimination, housing shortages, and generational trauma.

Jackie currently serves as a Rural Community Outreach Support Worker and Cultural Advisor with the Awo Taan Healing Lodge Society in Calgary, Alberta. Jackie also works in various capacities with Alberta Health Services, Calgary Police Service, University of Calgary, University of Alberta, Calgary Board of Education, and 113 Pathways to Justice:

Alberta Joint Working Group on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls. Jackie is also working on the Indigenous Elder's Lodge, the first urban Indigenous seniors living facility in Calgary, Alberta, which is set to launch March 1, 2023. Jackie has been honored with numerous awards for her work in the community including the 2018 Esquao Award through the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women, and the 2017 Arthur Smith Award through the Calgary Homeless Foundation.

Jackie states, "It's an honor to receive the medal, it's always been about the people." She has committed much of her life investing in helping the vulnerable and those that need a voice to speak for them. Jackie encourages the ones living in Calgary and other urban centers to go back to school and "ilyiká'kimaat!(try hard!)."

Dr. Luanne Metz, MLA for Calgary-Varsity

Dr. Luanne Metz was a Professor at the University of Calgary, a globally recognized medical researcher, a physician and a leader in health-care delivery before being elected in 2023.

As an advocate for public health care, Luanne believes in publicly funded, sustainable and accessible health care for all Albertans.

As a long time resident of Varsity who raised her family here, Luanne has the knowledge, experience, and leadership skills to build a healthy future in Alberta for generations to come.

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas

Jeromy Farkas is the 38th mayor of Calgary.  

Mayor Farkas was born and raised in East Calgary to parents wanting to build a great Canadian life for their family. Growing up, he worked in fast food and on the factory line in Forest Lawn, Marlborough, and Ogden before getting a degree in political science from the University of Calgary. At UCalgary, he also worked as the Executive Administrator for the Israel Studies Program and as a Research Team Lead in the Faculty of Medicine. 

In 2017, he was elected as one of Calgary’s youngest city councillors. During his term, he championed public transparency, financial responsibility, and community safety. As Councillor, he also served as a Calgary Police commissioner and director of the Calgary Housing Company. Four years later, he ran for mayor, coming in second place. 

In 2022, he hiked the 4,300-kilometer Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexico border to Canada to fundraise over $225,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters Calgary. A year later, he hiked 25 Rocky Mountains in 25 days to raise over $43,000 for The Alex Community Health Centre. He has since served as a non-profit director, community volunteer, and CEO of Glenbow Ranch Park Foundation-a role he held until earlier this year when he resigned to commit to his run for mayor. 

Today, Mayor Farkas, along with your City Council, is committed to making Calgary a great place to make a living and a great place to make a life!

Provost Dr. Sandra Davidson, University of Calgary

Dr. Sandra Davidson, appointed Provost effective July 1, 2024, has held pivotal roles at the University of Calgary, including Dean of the Faculty of Nursing from 2018 to 2024 and Deputy Provost from 2021 to 2023. With a distinguished career spanning private for-profit, public not-for-profit, and various public academic institutions, Dr. Davidson is widely recognized for her entrepreneurial mindset and innovative contributions to both academia and healthcare. She is a nationally and internationally acclaimed leader, most recently honoured with the Academic Administrative Excellence Award by the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN) in 2024, and the King Charles III Coronation Medal by The Kidney Foundation of Canada in 2025.

During her tenure as Dean of the Faculty of Nursing, Dr. Davidson spearheaded a significant expansion of graduate enrollment, introducing eight graduate certificates and a pathway leading to a master’s degree in nursing. Under her leadership, the faculty launched Canada’s second Doctor of Nursing (DN) program in 2023, focusing on health systems transformation. Additionally, she championed the development of pathways tailored for rural/remote and Indigenous communities within the undergraduate nursing program, enabling students to study as UCalgary nursing students while remaining in their home communities.

Her research concentrates on health systems leadership and healthcare innovation, driving scholarship and leadership across community, professional organizations, academic institutions, and practice settings. Dr. Davidson collaborates extensively to co-create innovative models of learning and health systems leadership. She is a prolific author, contributing texts, chapters, and journal articles, and has mentored numerous nurse leaders, influencing leadership paradigms within complex adaptive health networks.

Internationally recognized as a thought leader and futurist, Dr. Davidson regularly presents pioneering advancements in learning, leadership, and practice technologies at global forums attended by academic and practice leaders.

Dr. Davidson received her Nursing Diploma from Lethbridge College and completed her BN at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. She pursued her graduate studies at Gonzaga University, earning an MSN and a PhD in Leadership Studies.

Caroline Knox, Alberta Association of Nurses

Caroline is a registered nurse working in addictions and mental health as a Nurse Clinician in Psychiatric Emergency Services at South Health Campus in Calgary. She is also a sessional nursing instructor with Athabasca University’s Bachelor of Nursing program.

Much of Caroline's leadership is grounded in her frontline experience. Working in the emergency department, she sees every day how healthcare policy and system-level decisions intersect with the realities of patient care. This perspective informs her leadership and fuels her commitment to ensuring that nurses have a strong voice in healthcare decision-making.

As President of the Alberta Association of Nurses, Caroline is a passionate advocate for bringing nurses together, strengthening the profession, and ensuring the nursing perspective is part of the conversations that shape our healthcare system. She believes that nurses are stronger together—and that when we connect and collaborate across specialties, care settings, provinces, and disciplines, we amplify our collective voice and create better outcomes for nurses, patients, and healthcare systems across Canada.