Francis a first.(in focus)(Mayann Francis)

Nova Scotia's lieutenant-governor is a well-known human rights and women's rights advocate. Last November, Mayann Francis became the first African Nova Scotian and only the second woman to hold the position of Queen's representative in the province's more than 400-year history.

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Francis was born and raised in Whitney Pier, a unique part of Sydney which, for over a century, prided itself as a home to people from many parts of the globe who came seeking a better life. Among the many thousands of immigrants over the last century who came to the Pier were the new lieutenant-governor's Caribbean-born parents, Archpriest George Francis and Thelma …