US President-elect Joe Biden has chosen the daughter of a Newfoundlander to be his Secretary of Energy.
Jennifer Granholm, 61, is a former two-term governor of the State of Michigan.
CNN broadcast her speech Saturday in which she accepted the nomination as Energy Secretary, and gave a shout-out to her mother’s home province.
“My mom is a funny and fierce Irish-Welsh Newfie, born in Newfoundland, a Canadian province off the East Coast; a fishing province they call ‘the Rock,'” she stated with pride.
Caught by surprise when watching CNN and the nominee for US Energy Secretary & former Michigan Governor said her mother is a Newfoundlander. pic.twitter.com/DeQs9rpZPI
— Mayor Danny Breen 🇨🇦 (@DannyBreenNL) December 19, 2020
Granholm’s mother, Shirley Alfreda, is originally a Dowden but where exactly she grew up in this province wasn’t specified. Granholm was born in Vancouver but moved with her family to California when she was four years old.
Her selection as Energy Secretary—the equivalent of Energy Minister in Canada—is expected to be confirmed before inauguration day on Jan. 20.
And it could be fortuitous timing for Newfoundland and Labrador, particularly as the province seeks markets south of the border for Muskrat Falls hydroelectric power.
Granholm has touted the importance of transitioning to a cleaner, greener economy in the US, which Biden has listed as one of his four goals while in office.