FAILURE TO LAUNCH
Payette’s turbulent first year at Rideau Hall
In the third week of June, with parliamentarians on the verge of departing for the summer, the federal government was scrambling to organize a public ceremony where royal assent would be granted to a bill fulfilling one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s landmark election promises, the legalization of marijuana. There was, however, a problem: according to sources who spoke with the National Post, Gov. Gen. Julie Payette, whose signature was required to pass the bill into law, did not want to preside over the ceremony.
Under the Constitution of Canada, the government can’t enact a law until the governor general, the Queen’s representative in Canada, assents to it. This usually takes place in an informal way, the document signed in private in an office at Rideau Hall, the nearly 200-year-old mansion and national historic site on Ottawa’s Sussex Drive that is the governor general’s official residence and place of work. But twice a year, it is the subject of a public ceremony, and given the significance of the marijuana legislation, the government was keen for its passage into law to take place with all possible fanfare.
It wasn’t that Payette didn’t understand her constitutional responsibility. According to a source with direct knowledge of the matter, the issue was that the timing of the bill’s passage had been uncertain, and once the government had finally managed to get it through the Senate on June 19, Payette did not appreciate having her schedule altered on short notice.
Payette called senior officials within the government, sources said, upset over the expectation she rearrange her schedule to accommodate the ceremony and questioning whether she actually had to be there. Could a Supreme Court justice preside instead? Ultimately, sources told the Post, it took conversations with officials all the way up to Canada’s top civil servant, Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick, to convince Payette to carry out one of her single biggest responsibilities. After considerable uncertainty, Payette signed Bill C-45 into law on the morning of June 21.
The panic over June’s royal assent ceremony is just one example of what sources have described as a year of extraordinary tension between the federal government, Rideau Hall and the organizations that work closely with it.
Every new governor general brings a particular personality to Rideau Hall, which shapes how the office functions. The Canadian Space Agency’s former chief astronaut, an engineer by training and the former chief operating officer of the Montreal Science Centre, Julie Payette is by all accounts whip-smart, highly accomplished and fiercely independent. She has a dry sense of humour, but does not suffer fools gladly. She is focused on the minutiae of her job. Sources described her as someone who does not like being told what to do, an introvert who is deeply uncomfortable with anyone digging into her personal life.
In other words, she is perfectly suited to be an astronaut and engineer, but much less so for a job defined by strict adherence to convention and which comes with constant public scrutiny.
As a result, sources said, Payette has been locked in a year-long battle with the expectations and restraints that come with being governor general: demands on her personal time, expectations of how she should dress, what she can say in public and how she should work with politicians, diplomats and bureaucrats.
Many members of the tight-knit community that operates in and around Rideau Hall told the Post they have grown frustrated with a governor general who constantly challenges tradition and has substantially reduced the workload of her office. However, most believe the blame lies with the Prime Minister’s Office, for abandoning the advice of viceregal experts and choosing a star candidate without ensuring she would be a good fit for the job.
Multiple sources, including senior government officials, have conveyed to the Post that Payette herself shares that frustration. She is unhappy, they have said, to an extent that some wonder if she will leave the job early. In a statement emailed to the Post Friday in response to a list of questions, Rideau Hall spokeswoman MarieÈve Létourneau said, “The Governor General is fully committed to serving Canada and Canadians. Over the past 11 months, she has shown great leadership and executed, on time, all the duties that a Governor General must perform. Madame Payette has made it her priority to meet with thousands of people from coast to coast to coast, to support Canadian Armed Forces personnel at home and abroad, to welcome several heads of State with their delegations and to present hundreds of honours and awards to deserving Canadians. As usual, the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General will issue its annual report in the fall, providing further details about the 2017-18 cycle of activities. “We would like to point out that your assertions are either inaccurate or based on incomplete information.”
Governors general are often surprised at the pace of work when they first take office, and take several months to adjust to the constant stream of ceremony, diplomacy, award-giving and glad-handing — let alone the weighty constitutional responsibilities and stringent protocol rules.
But people who have observed first-hand previous transitions at Rideau Hall told the Post this goes beyond the typical growing pains. “It’s not unusual for a governor general to test the limits, but there’s clearly more than testing going on,” said one senior government source. “It’s a delicate situation.”
Rideau Hall’s participation in public events has dwindled. Its relationships with non-profit organizations —even those going back decades — remain under review. Event organizers accustomed to the governor general’s participation have been cautioned not to take it for granted, sources told the Post. “There’s no question the pace and the activity is the slowest it’s been since the ’70s or ’80s,” said one source with extensive knowledge of the institution.
In internal matters, Payette is described as routinely challenging the traditional boundaries of her role. According to sources, she has pushed back on the idea that she should uncritically rubber-stamp other people’s decisions on, for example, who should receive honours such as the Order of Canada. And she has sometimes blurred the line between promoting the study of science and trying to affect science policy within government.
The network of people with knowledge of how this governor general operates is small and discreet. Many declined requests for comment. However, over the last few months the National Post has spoken with 12 sources with direct knowledge or first-hand experience of Rideau Hall during the first year of Payette’s term, as well as several other sources with knowledge specific to this story. The Post has agreed to keep their identities confidential because of concerns they would jeopardize their professional relationships with Rideau Hall by speaking on the record. Most were reluctant to speak to reporters on the subject, but did so out of concern about the institution’s current direction. As one said, “a negative story could be damaging for the institution, but the institution is at risk if (the governor general) wants to change it beyond recognition.”
On July 12, 2017, the Globe and Mail broke the news that the Liberal government would name Payette as governor general. The next day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau officially announced the appointment in the foyer of the Senate. Payette was an exciting choice: an accomplished female scientist, a speaker of six languages, a skilled pianist and singer who had been to space. In the story in which the Globe had first revealed her appointment, an unnamed senior Liberal source was quoted as saying, “She is perfectly aligned with the image that we want to project. It’s such a nice nomination.” Sources told the Post Payette’s name did not come up until late in the ad hoc process the Trudeau administration set up to find Gov. Gen. David Johnston’s replacement.
In 2012, Trudeau’s predecessor, Stephen Harper, created the Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments, a panel of experts to help the government select future governors general, lieutenant-governors and territorial commissioners.
Since Trudeau came to power in October 2015, however, his government has not consulted the committee for any such appointment. Last summer, when it came time to discuss potential replacements for Johnston — who had by then been in the job for seven years, two beyond the conventional five — the Privy Council Office, the highest department of the federal civil service, invited several other experts on Canada’s relationship with the Crown to Ottawa for a discussion.
The PCO was looking closely at a handful of Indigenous candidates for the role. But about a month before those experts were to meet to finalize their recommendations to the Prime Minster’s Office, they were told there was no need.
Multiple sources told the Post Trudeau’s office had become aware that someone interesting was looking for a position in his government, potentially as an ambassador to Europe. That person ticked many boxes important to the Liberal government: a woman, relatively young, and not just a scientist — an astronaut.
Julie Payette’s name was then added to the list of candidates, said sources familiar with the process. Among the agencies given that list was the Liberal Research Bureau, a branch of the Liberal Party that operates within Parliament and regularly conducts basic background checks on potential appointees.
Payette had been subject to rigorous vetting earlier in her career. Only 14 Canadians have ever been selected as astronauts by the Canadian Space Agency. They are required to obtain secret-level security clearance from Canada and its space partners, and to relocate to Houston, Texas, home of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration: NASA. That organization also conducts “complete background investigations” on astronauts, according to its website.
Within a week of Payette’s appointment as governor general, however, legal issues from after her time as an astronaut resurfaced, overshadowing the excitement around the announcement.
An iPolitics story published the morning of July 18, 2017 revealed an expunged second-degree assault charge laid against Payette in 2011 in Maryland, where she had lived with her then-husband, whom she had been accused of assaulting. The next day, CTV and the Toronto Star reported that earlier in 2011 Payette had been driving a car that struck and killed a woman. An extensive police investigation concluded she was not at fault. When the stories broke, Payette released a statement through Rideau Hall saying, “For family and personal reasons, I will not comment on these unfounded charges, of which I was immediately and completely cleared many years ago, and I hope that people will respect my private life.”
A source with first-hand knowledge of the Liberal Research Bureau’s vetting of Payette told the Post the office had not learned of either incident during their background check.
Documents on the vetting process obtained through an access-to-information request show that the Privy Council Office is responsible for conducting pre-appointment background checks for “all Prime Ministerial Appointments.” However, the governor general is appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the prime minister. It is not clear from the documents, significant parts of which are redacted, whether the usual security checks conducted by the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service on cabinet appointments are required in this case.
It is not unusual for a new governor general to need time to adapt to the job, learning its intricacies and the importance of protocol. People around Rideau Hall felt that a few months’ grace period could surely be afforded to somebody as impressive as Payette, coming from a very different background.
Many in the vice-regal community still believe she will be able to adjust. But roughly a year into her tenure, Payette has been remaking her job in ways that others feel could be damaging to the institution in the long term.
According to three sources with knowledge of Rideau Hall, Payette does not take kindly to the idea of simply rubber-stamping bureaucratic decisions. Unlike her predecessors, she questions much of the advice she receives and the papers put on her desk for signature, they said. It has sometimes been difficult to get timely sign-off from Payette on matters such as approving the awarding of honours like the Order of Canada, sources said. Four sources with direct knowledge confirmed that in May 2018, Payette attended a full-day meeting of the advisory council that chooses recipients of the Order of Canada, one of the most prestigious honours in the country. By convention, the governor general does not take part in the council’s deliberations.
According to a history of the Order of Canada written by honours expert Christopher McCreery, since the late 1980s convention has dictated that governors general cannot preside over meetings of the council — instead, they must simply take its advice. In a speech given to an honours symposium in May, McCreery said it would be an “abuse” of the office to be a part of deliberations on who should be invested into the Order. A governor general’s presence in front of the council could “influence the important discussions and deliberations that need to take place.”
One senior source with extensive knowledge of the situation told the Post they have seen Payette’s conduct in several matters as evidence she “thinks she is able to do more than passively signing off on additions and removals” of honours. The other three with direct knowledge only of the May meeting, however, saw Payette’s attendance there as benign, and if it broke with convention, there was no evidence that day of her interfering in honours decisionmaking.
As another example, Payette cares deeply about science policy, but she is in a job that, by convention, requires a certain distance from policy-making. Sources told the Post she has sometimes tried to stretch that boundary by spending time discussing policy with politicians, including Science Minister Kirsty Duncan. “It takes a while to understand your job is promoting science, not setting government policy,” said a senior government source.
It is not clear that Payette has crossed any lines in doing so, although one source familiar with the operations of the past several holders of the office said that Govs. Gen. Johnston, Michaëlle Jean and Adrienne Clarkson were all firm in their role as noninterventionist “constitutional actor(s).”
PAYETTE HAS BEEN LOCKED IN A YEAR-LONG BATTLE WITH THE EXPECTATIONS AND RESTRAINTS THAT COME WITH THE JOB, SOURCES SAID.
“It’s not unusual for a Governor General to test the limits, but there’s clearly more than testing going on. It’s a delicate situation.”
Philippe Lagassé, an expert on the Crown at Carleton University, said it is proper for governors general to ask questions and become informed on what they are being asked to sign. But that freedom only goes so far. “She’s allowed to give her views on policy, provided that it is not made public, provided that it does not interfere with her functions, provided that it does not lead her to refuse to sign documents,” said Lagassé. “If she’s using her powers to prevent the machinery of government from operating in order to achieve a particular policy end, then we have a problem. If she’s meeting with a minister and letting them know what she thinks about X, Y, Z, particularly if she’s taking the time to get informed about government policy and has concerns, then that’s legit. That’s a legitimate thing.” A spokeswoman for Duncan told the Post both the minister and Payette are “women in STEM and they have discussed their shared love for science on numerous occasions. Minister Duncan also shared a similar passion with our previous governor general, David Johnston, including during a mission to Sweden where together they promoted the strength of science, technology and innovation in Canada.”
Payette has also become more deeply involved in the administration of her own office than have previous governors general. Some observers attribute this to her engineering background, where she is used to being hands-on with every detail. But, sources said, her reluctance to delegate administrative matters to her deputies leaves her with less time to devote to her public role.
It has not helped, sources said, that the most senior bureaucrat in the office is a complete outsider to government. Payette appointed Assunta Di Lorenzo, a longtime friend from Montreal she met decades ago through an international baccalaureate program, as Secretary to the Governor General, effectively her deputy. Di Lorenzo had a successful career as a corporate lawyer, but unlike all her predecessors in the role she had zero experience in the public service or in the administration of vice-regal affairs. (Rideau Hall did not make Di Lorenzo available for comment.)
Robert Finch, Dominion chairman of the Monarchist League of Canada, said he doesn’t see this as a major problem — although “a lot of people would disagree with me on that,” he said. “To have someone come in from outside, a new perspective, a different perspective, that’s always a good thing.”
Alongside Di Lorenzo’s appointment, the government created the new position of associate secretary, which was filled with a public servant, Marie-Geneviève Mounier, moved over from Canadian Heritage.
Compounding matters, Rideau Hall has also lost a huge amount of institutional knowledge since Payette took office, with the departure of the top executives who ran the honours, policy, communications, and human resources departments, as well as a host of less senior staff.
All this, sources said, has contributed to Rideau Hall’s reduced effectiveness, which has had wide-ranging consequences. It is normal for a governor general to review some programming when they first come into office. Upon taking office, sources said, Payette put everything under review, including all programming, travel and patronages.
But as the Oct. 2 anniversary of Payette’s installation approaches, there is no sign Rideau Hall has set priorities or established which issues and causes this governor general wants to define her term, sources said, and the overall pace of work remains low.
“It appears to many of us like kind of the very bare minimum is being done, the absolutely essential international obligations as identified by the government,” said a source in the viceregal community.
Patronages are a symbolic endorsement by the governor general, but nonprofit organizations take them seriously as a measure of prestige and influence and as a means of recognition for their volunteers. Some organizations, such as the Canadian Red Cross, Scouts Canada, and the United Nations Association in Canada, have held patronages for more than 50 years, and some, like the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, have structured their bylaws around the role the governor general takes up with them.
While it’s normal for a new vice-regal to review patronages, to have suspended them for this long is unusual, said a source with direct knowledge of Rideau Hall’s patronage system. Meanwhile, sources said, many such organizations are frustrated with the scant communication they’ve received from Rideau Hall about why the review is taking place and how long it might take.
Reached for comment, several of these organizations were unwilling to speak on the record for fear of damaging their relationships with Rideau Hall.
For his part, the Monarchist League’s Finch said he does not have direct knowledge of any organizations expressing frustration but knows the sentiment is out there. “I do know that, amongst the different organizations, there has certainly been some questions as to why they haven’t gotten answers. They are simply hoping that they’ll get their ‘yes’ sooner rather than later.”
In a statement, Rideau Hall spokeswoman Létourneau said such patronages “have accumulated with each Governor General over the years and several of these relationships had not been reviewed in 50, 75 and even a hundred years. With close to 250 patronages, the institution undertook to review the program, align causes with the Canadian society of today, and bring it to proportions allowing the Governor General to make her engagements more meaningful. We will offer more information regarding that modernization once the discussion with all partners will be completed.”
Rideau Hall’s approach to events, meanwhile, has also raised eyebrows.
This year the award ceremony for the Governor General’s Medals in Architecture was not hosted at Rideau Hall, per tradition. Michael Cox, president of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, said, “we simply got an email saying Her Excellency could not accommodate us this year.” The organization, which minted brandnew medals this year with a design symbolically representing the royal connection, did not receive any explanation, according to Cox.
In a statement, Létourneau said, “It is not the first time this ceremony was held without the presence of the Governor General and outside Rideau Hall. For example in 2006, the awards were presented by the Lieutenant-governor of Quebec at the Institut de Tourisme et d’Hôtellerie in Montréal.”
Cox said he was able to get Manitoba’s lieutenantgovernor on board to do the ceremony instead.
This isn’t the only example of lieutenant-governors stepping up for such roles. The Killam Prize, which Johnston handed out annually during his tenure, will be awarded by Nova Scotia’s lieutenant-governor in Halifax this year, said Tara Lapointe, director of outreach for the Canadian Council for the Arts.
Yet those who have come to know Payette in Ottawa have pointed out she often shines at the events in which she does participate, and connects very well with audiences. She works hard on her public remarks, and delivers them without notes, adding witty off-the-cuff asides.
Though one speech, delivered at a science conference last November, got her into trouble for comments that were seen as critical of those with religious beliefs, Payette has largely proven adept at the public side of her role. The issue for some is how infrequent those moments are.
“I’ve seen her interact with people at receptions and events and she’s as good at it as anybody else,” said one source. “I understand from what my colleagues tell me that that takes a lot out of her.”
It is not clear how thoroughly the government explained to Payette what being governor general would be like, and what the role would require from her. Two sources who have worked with many other appointees at the viceregal level told the Post it is common for them to have been poorly briefed by political staff before they enter the job.
Payette also has the difficult task of succeeding David Johnston, who almost every source with whom the Post has spoken for this story has pointed out is an incredibly tough act to follow.
“He glided into it so naturally. People are benchmarking against perfect. No one is going to stand up as well,” a senior government source said. Indeed, according to public records Payette has participated in about twothirds as many public events as Johnston did in his first year.
Several sources who spoke to the Post stressed that it’s not entirely fair to do a straight comparison from one governor general to another. Each brings different skills, priorities and personality to the role.
As remarkable and accomplished as Payette undoubtedly is, it is possible her particular skills, priorities and personality were always going to make her a difficult fit for the role. And if that continues to have an impact, accountability ultimately lies with the Prime Minister’s Office, which was responsible for identifying, vetting, preparing and appointing her in the first place.
“No one in the system federally will listen when I’ve said this is actually a serious problem and the clerk or the prime minister needs to sit down with her,” said one source in the vice-regal community.
Trudeau is responsible for all acts of the Crown, Carleton University’s Lagassé said, and is accountable for everything she does. “Ultimately it comes down to, does the prime minister defend it? If he does, then that’s his call. If the prime minister is not satisfied with how a governor general is performing their duties, then the prime minister has a responsibility to bring (it) up to the Queen.”
“While the governor general is non-partisan and apolitical, the prime minister has an excellent working relationship with Ms. Payette and is proud of the work she has been doing to represent Canada here and abroad since she took office,” said Chantal Gagnon, spokeswoman for the PMO. “As the PM said when she was appointed, her achievements are a testament to her hard work, discipline, and passion, and her work has been recognized around the world. For reasons of confidentiality, we do not comment on the specifics of individual candidates’ applications.”
Meanwhile, chatter in official Ottawa about the conflict between Payette’s approach and the demands of the office has escalated in recent months.
It is still possible she grows into the role — and that the turbulence prompts changes in how she and her staff operate.
“My hope is that these have been growing pains, transitional pains,” said Finch. “My only hope is she was briefed properly, prior to accepting the position, as to these details and what your life will now entail. And that ultimately rests on the PMO, who drives the appointment process. There seems to be, potentially, a disconnect between what is expected of the role and what was sort of explained to her. We only hope that they have explained it properly.”
But it is also possible that Payette simply proves to be incompatible with the office.
“In the first six months, I was like, ‘I want her to succeed,’ ” said one longtime observer of the office. “She looks great on paper, her resume says she should be a great success at this, and be able to connect in a way in which other people have not been able to. But it’s been — it’s just the wrong personality for this job.”
SHE TICKED MANY BOXES IMPORTANT TO THE GOVERNMENT: A WOMAN, RELATIVELY YOUNG, AND NOT JUST A SCIENTIST — AN ASTRONAUT.