Edmonton Olympian and musician married by Rachel Notley

Local politician officiates wedding A local Olympian and singer are now married and the leader of the opposition in Alberta played a special part in the ceremony.

EDMONTON — A pair of famous Edmontonians were married by the leader of the official opposition Saturday.

According to NDP Leader Rachel Notley, she came across the job of officiating for Olympian Jen Kish and Indigenous musician Shawnee Kish in a conversation.

Notley told CTV News Edmonton she had come to know Jen over the past few years.

“We were hanging out online in the last 12 months,” Notley recalled. “We were just chatting and she was very excitedly telling me that she and Shawnee were getting married. So I awkwardly announced that I can do weddings.

“So she had to awkwardly say, ‘Oh, you want to do mine?’”

Notley laughed, adding she was not sure if that was Jen and Shawnee’s plan exactly, but said nonetheless that the couple decided to have her as their officiant.

The pair held the ceremony at Alexander Circle in Glenora on Saturday.

“I was just very excited for the two of them and really excited for them to be able to do something so positive in what are otherwise challenging times,” she added. “It was really a privilege to be asked to be part of it.

“They’re very much in love with each other and they were very happy to be getting married.”

Since 2010, Jen has participated in almost every World Rugby Sevens tournament. The star rugby player was the captain of Canada’s Women’s Sevens rugby team at Rio 2016 where she helped the team win a bronze medal.

Shawnee has won the CBC Searchlight Rising Star 2020 award and was one of the Allan Slaight JUNO Master Class winners. The award-winning musician also does charitable work away from the microphone, including helping Indigenous youth and LGBTQ+ communities through organizations such as We Matter and Kids Help Phone.