How Payette’s time at science centre foreshadowed Rideau Hall trouble
People least shocked by turmoil worked under her in Montreal
OTTAWA — Last week, after news broke that a dozen Rideau Hall staffers were alleging verbal abuse and a hostile work environment created by Governor General Julie Payette, the phone of a former employee at the Montreal Science Centre lit up.
“When the news came out, I got 15 or 16 texts from friends, coworkers, excoworkers: ‘Oh my god, your old boss!’” the former employee said.
Rideau Hall — the office of the Queen’s representative in Canada — is now in the extraordinary position of having a third-party workplace investigation after the Privy Council Office intervened due to the allegations aired in a CBC story.
But based on accounts given to the National Post, the people who may have been least shocked about Rideau Hall workplace turmoil were people who worked under Payette between 2013 and 2016, when she ran the Montreal Science Centre as chief operating officer.
For those who chose to speak for this story, they said their motivation is not to grind an axe years after the fact, but to point out that the Prime Minister’s Office shouldn’t be taken by surprise that many Rideau Hall employees are having a very difficult time working for Payette. It’s all happened before.
The accounts give a nuanced picture of how Payette manages a workplace. She forms close bonds with people who she trusts, and pushes them constructively. Others say Payette would sometimes pick fights and level harsh criticism at them, but they could brush it off and still have a good working relationship with her.
But for some people, working for Payette was excruciating. Just as in the CBC story about Rideau Hall, some science centre employees said they left conversations with Payette in tears and frequently felt humiliated in meetings where Payette targeted them.
“I’m going to say that when I read the news, nothing at all surprised me,” said one person who had worked at the science centre for many years, but quit directly because of Payette. “Everything sounded extremely familiar.”
“There was a line in the (CBC) story saying that there was always a victim in every meeting,” said another person who had stayed throughout Payette’s tenure. “It was the same thing at the science centre.”
The Post spoke to eight people who worked in various roles during this time, and all had some direct interaction with Payette. They would only agree to talk on the condition that the Post not name them, as they still work in the sector. The Post is only relating accounts where the sources have firsthand experience.
Not everyone had a negative experience. “I honestly never felt treated badly,” said one person. “I personally never witnessed her saying anything that was personally harmful in any shape or form. It was always work-based, never personality-based.”
Some people defended Payette, arguing she always had reasons to call out someone’s work. Payette has certain expectations of what needs to be done, according to this view, and people can be overly sensitive about criticism.
But even one person who enjoyed working with Payette had no hesitation when asked if people at the science centre had quit because of her: “Oh, absolutely.”
Another person who never felt targeted by Payette said they know many others who were. “She was not a good manager,” this person said. “She was not careful with people, she had a lack of empathy for people.”
Payette’s spokesperson Ashlee Smith, asked to respond to these accounts that seemed to show a pattern with Rideau Hall, said Payette has always “strived for excellence for herself and those around her,” and has “devoted her entire career to the principles of rigour, continuous improvement, teamwork, collegiality, and respect.”
“While I cannot respond to anonymous sources, rumours and innuendo, what I can say is that I have very much enjoyed my time working for the Governor General and appreciate her dedication to a high standard of work, her strong work ethic, and her commitment to respectful collaboration and discussions in the workplace, and have never personally seen anything even remotely like what is being alleged,” Smith said.