Alberta education minister to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro in memory of sister, murdered in domestic violence incident
Posted Jan 11, 2026 10:04 am.
Last Updated Jan 11, 2026 10:08 am.
Alberta’s education minister is embarking on an eight-day hike of Africa’s tallest mountain in honour of his sister, who was killed in a domestic violence altercation two years ago.
Calgary-Bow MLA Demetrios Nicolaides’ sister Melanie was murdered by her ex-husband on Jan. 16. 2024, before he took his own life.
Since then, the education minister helped kickstart the fundraising initiative Melanie’s Ascent to raise money for a new program with FearIsNotLove, a Calgary domestic violence prevention non-profit.
Around $250,000 has been raised of its $300,000 goal, with the money also being used to provide critical safety tools for women fleeing domestic violence, such as home security systems and personal safety devices.
The fundraiser on this year’s anniversary in remembrance of Melanie will be spent working on a passion he picked up to work on his mental health after she died: hiking.
Nicolaides, explaining the situation as a roller coaster of emotions, says it started one day when a friend decided to invite him on a hike.
“He told me he found it therapeutic when he was going through some challenges, and so decided to join him,” he tells CityNews.
“He dragged me out on a hike at 4 a.m., and we’re hiking up a lost peak in Kananaskis, and it was very therapeutic, and I found it a good way to help, you know, manage some of those emotions.”
Mount Kilimanjaro, which is 5,895 meters above sea level, is part of the minister’s bucket list, and he is already physically preparing for the eight-day route.
But instead of a regular hike, he will commemorate his sister’s passing two years later.
“She scoffed at me as a younger sister would and said, ‘Why would you want to do something like that?'” Nicolaides said.
“‘What’s the point you’re going to go all the way up to the top? You’re not going to see anything, and then you’re going to come all the way down. Why would you do that? There’s no point, there’s no purpose, and said if you’re going to do something like that, it has to be some kind of point to it.’ And so I think we found a good reason to finally follow through with it.”
Nicolaides and nine others, including fellow Alberta cabinet minister Todd Loewen, will climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, starting on Jan. 14.
For more information, visit melaniesascent.ca or fearisnotlove.ca
