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Canada's Governor General faces questions over workplace behavior - North Country Public Radio

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Julie Payette, Governor General of Canada. Photo: Johanie Maheu, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

The controversy over the connections between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his family, and other members of his Liberal Party government with the We Charity continued to develop during the past week with further investigations by parliamentary committees and opposition calls for Trudeau and Minister of Finance Bill Morneau to resign.

However, another controversy developed in Ottawa, this time in what is technically the highest office in the land—Government House, the office of the Governor General, Julie Payette.

The Governor General represents the Head of State, which in Canada, is Queen Elizabeth II, who does not live here. While technically appointed by the Queen, the person selected for the role is usually appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. Government House is located at Rideau Hall, the Governor General’s residence in Ottawa. The Governor General signs bills into law after Parliament has approved them. He or she is responsible for authorizing the dissolution of Parliament for election campaigns, and formally asking the leader of the party that wins an election to form the new government as Prime Minister. Governors General swear in Prime Ministers and cabinet ministers, and they also are responsible for various civil honors such as the Order of Canada, awards for bravery, cultural awards, and military honors. The Governor General usually travels extensively throughout the country and maintains a summer residence at the historic Citadel fortress in Quebec City.

During the past week, an investigation by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) revealed that current and former members of Governor General Payette’s staff have complained of bullying and harassment from Payette and her secretary and friend, Assunta Di Lorenzo. Several employees have resigned from Government House and others have taken leaves of absence.

The accusations include Payette shouting at employees, and personally berating them in front of other employees, particularly when they accompany her on official travel around the country and the world. One alleged occurrence is that Payette, a former astronaut, has randomly asked employees to recite the planets of the solar system at meetings.

Government House operates in a gray area when it comes to accountability. It is not part of the regular federal civil service which has various mechanisms in place to address human resources problems. The Governor General operates under Crown privilege that makes it exempt. However, on Thursday, the Privy Council Office (PCO), which acts as the highest level of the federal civil service, announced it is investigating the allegations. Di Lorenzo has denied the allegations and noted that no formal complaints have been made.

Julie Payette was sworn in as Governor General on October 2, 2017, and controversy has periodically marked her time in office. In 2011, she was charged with second degree assault while living in Maryland. The alleged victim was her then-husband, Billie Flynn, a retired Royal Canadian Air Force Colonel who now works as a test pilot for Lockheed-Martin. The charges were eventually dropped, and the couple separated and then divorced.

Payette also faced criticism in 2018 for comments that criticized creationism and deniers of climate change. Payette later admitted she was having some difficulty adjusting to the role, and one unnamed source in the recent CBC story about the alleged toxic workplace indeed defended Payette for having high standards and not being used to the civil service environment. 

Since the appointment of Vincent Massey as Governor General of Canada in 1952, all who have held the role were Canadian citizens. Before that, they were British aristocrats. The post-1952 Governors General have all been people of high achievement, generally diplomats, high-ranking military officers, former politicians, journalists, and academics. Some were highly respected, others also created controversy. 

Massey was from the wealthy Toronto family that made its fortune in farm machinery. His successor, Georges Vanier came from a working-class family and ended up a highly decorated hero of both world wars. In the 1970s, Jules Léger’s health was so poor that his wife often fulfilled his official duties. Léger’s successor, Ed Schreyer, was an unpretentious former Premier of Manitoba who raised his teenaged children at Rideau Hall as though they were any other suburban family.

Controversies swirled around Jeanne Sauvé who succeeded Schreyer in the 1980s. Her fear of being harmed led her to close the normally very accessible grounds of Rideau Hall to the public. Adrienne Clarkson, who became Governor-General in 1999 has faced criticism for spending, and breaching protocols that implied that she had precedence over the Queen. Clarkson`s successor, Michaelle Jean found herself in a difficult position when she was appointed in 2005 due to alleged sympathies with Quebec separatism by her and Jean-Daniel Lafond, her husband.

No contemporary Governor General of Canada has ever resigned due to controversies. They generally finish their term in office and then retire. Unlike politicians, they cannot simply be replaced in an election and are not as subject to political pressure to resign.

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