What do we expect from Payette? By: Editorial Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Friday, Sep. 28, 2018

Opinion

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This article was published 28/09/2018 (2317 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In space, no one needs you to give royal assent.

Canada’s Governor General Julie Payette had an impressive resumé before she was selected by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to succeed Governor General David Johnston. Pilot, engineer, astronaut and fluent in six languages, among other skills, announcing her as Canada’s head of state was sure to generate headlines last year — and it did. The latest headlines, however, may not be what the prime minister had hoped for.

Ms. Payette has drawn criticism for scaling back her appearances as Governor General, as she has not yet visited Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Yukon in her capacity. (She has, her spokesperson pointed out this week, been to our province a number of times previously.) Ms. Payette, according to some sources, is striving to maintain a work-life balance, which seems murky code for “does not want to have as packed a schedule as her predecessors.”

It raises the question: is it such a bad thing for the Governor General to want a private life? By some accounts, Ms. Payette is an introvert, and a relentless schedule of public events is exhausting. Furthermore, La Presse has reported, she is unable to live in the Governor General’s official residence, Rideau Hall, as it undergoes renovations, nor in the Governor General’s secondary residence, Rideau Cottage. The latter is currently occupied by Prime Minister Trudeau and his family while the prime minister’s official residence at 24 Sussex Dr. also undergoes (long overdue) repairs. Adjusting to a new role while not having an official residence would be taxing for anyone.

Also worth considering: if the office of the Governor General is largely ceremonial, did the people with the power to do something about her taking the office — namely the prime minister in selecting her, and Ms. Payette in accepting — fully consider how this was going to work out?

It’s acknowledged in a National Post story that the standard for public appearances, travel and ceremonial duties set by Mr. Johnston was unusually high; it would be hard for anyone to match it.

And, as that newspaper’s reportage has shown, Ms. Payette is actively reviewing the number of organizations associated with her office, some of them with relationships going back decades. We expect governments to review outdated legislation, and we don’t expect that to be done cursorily. Is it, therefore, surprising that when a new Governor General takes office, they will take a look at what is expected of them? When you hire an engineer to a role that is primarily ceremonial, don’t be surprised if she takes a details-oriented approach to her duties.

All of this is to say that organizations that need royal assent to fulfil their charters and continue operating, as well as legislators who need the Governor General’s signature to finalize laws, should reasonably be able to expect her to meet those obligations in a timely manner. After all, the nonagenerian Queen whom she represents certainly shows up for a full schedule of ceremonial duties.

But if we’re going to raise a fuss about whether the Governor General is sacrificing enough of her personal life to meet those expectations, perhaps we might ask: was the prime minister more interested in her as a symbol than as a person? And what, if anything, do Canadians expect of a figurehead they have no role in choosing?