She lives in North Preston with her husband, Dean, who is a superintendent with the Halifax Regional Police, and they have three children.[3]
Land titles initiative
In 2014, Simmonds authored a document named: "This Land is Our Land: African Nova Scotian Voices from the Preston Area Speak Up". This document talked about how the African Nova Scotian communities in the Preston areas continue to face ongoing concerns regarding the expropriation of land, clarity of land titles and education regarding land ownership and inheritance. The challenges that Simmonds wrote about highlighted that the challenges in these communities stem from a history fraught with racism, oppression and inequity. In the document Simmonds referenced that today, fewer instances of overt racism occur and the problems are more systemic, however more work needs to be done.[4]
Following the publication of: "This Land is Our Land: African Nova Scotian Voices from the Preston Area Speak Up", Simmonds continued her advocacy for land titles to be granted to those residing on unregistered land. Owing to her commitment on resolving the issue, Simmonds was named executive director of the Land Titles Initiative on March 5, 2021, by the Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives.[5] Due to Simmonds' election in August, 2021, she had to step aside from the role as she was now the MLA for Preston.[6]
Political career
Simmonds was one of four Black Canadians elected to the Nova Scotia legislature in 2021.[1] On September 24, 2021, Simmonds was elected Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, which makes Simmonds the first African Nova Scotian speaker in the province's history.[7] Simmonds is a member of the Law Amendments Committee. She is also a member of the House of Assembly Management Commission.[8]
On October 29, 2021, the House of Assembly voted to condemn a Justice Ministry staff member who was later fired after making racist comments against Simmonds on social media.[10]
2022 Liberal leadership contest
On February 4, 2022, Simmonds launched her campaign for leader of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party following Iain Rankin's announcement that he would be stepping down. She was the first person to declare their candidacy for Leader of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party.[11][12][13] Simmonds' leadership campaign slogan was "New Energy for Nova Scotians". On July 9, 2022, she lost the leadership election to Zach Churchill.[14][15]
