GG must learn mockery never the answer
There is a great dilemma about the position of Governor General as it has evolved in Canada: as a country we naturally want to attract good, intelligent people to the job. Then we want them to shut up and keep their opinions to themselves while smiling and waving at school openings and the like.
The Governor General is a ceremonial figure, chosen by the prime minister of the day. He or she is unelected and does not represent in any way a manifestation of public opinion, other than that some people may agree or disagree with whatever the GG thinks. Whoever happens to hold the position may have strong views, but the job does not exist to allow them to be shared at will. If someone is determined to do so, they should run for a seat in the House of Commons, or get a newspaper column.
The new Governor General, Julie Payette, has already run up against this reality. In a keynote speech to the annual Canadian Science Policy Convention in Ottawa this week, Payette launched into some piquant remarks about climate science, social media, fake news, disinformation and the odd views we have learned (from social media) are held by a disturbingly large proportion of the population.
“Can you believe that still today in learned society, in houses of government, unfortunately, we’re still debating and still questioning whether humans have a role in the Earth warming up or whether even the Earth is warming up, period,” she asked.
“And we are still debating and still questioning whether life was a divine intervention or whether it was coming out of a natural process let alone, oh my goodness, a random process.”
In addition, she said, some people still believe “every single one of the people here’s personalities can be determined by looking at planets coming in front of invented constellations.”
According to the Canadian Press, which reported the remarks, her tone was one of incredulity. We now know that our Governor General thinks people who question climate science, think God created the world, and consider astrology anything but a scam are a bunch of bozos who deserve to be publicly mocked.
GOVERNOR GENERAL NEEDS TO LEARN SHE REPRESENTS ALL CANADIANS, EVEN THOSE WHO DIFFER
It may well be that they do deserve it. You don’t have to be a paid-up member of Greenpeace to conclude that the activities of the 7.4 billion people who inhabit the Earth contribute to the environmental changes that affect the climate. We may not have a firm understanding of exactly how it all works and where it’s going, but we can be reasonably sure it’s happening.
Some of us may also be non-religious enough to have dismissed any notion of a divinity, and to have concluded that Darwin largely got it right. As well, most of us can likely agree that fake news and misinformation are bad things, and that the people who accept at face value any nonsense they stumble across on Twitter are a big reason the world ends up with people like Donald Trump in positions of enormous power.
Nonetheless, it is not the role of the Governor General to mock people who believe in God — any God — or belittle those unfortunate creatures who lack the benefit of the rock-hard certainty that apparently comes with a background in science.
Payette is an engineer and an astronaut with an advanced degree in applied science. Smart, she definitely is. But there is a real danger in the Governor General of the day spouting off about their personal views, in return for a few giggles from an audience of peers. The prime minister’s office was quick to defend Payette against complaints about her remarks. “Science is science. And climate change is real and man made,” tweeted Catherine McKenna, the environment minister, ignoring Payette’s other remarks.
It’s natural that the Liberals would approve of liberal remarks made by a Liberalappointed GG. It also reflects the general tendency of the Trudeau government to dismiss anyone who holds views different from their own. Not only do they reject the views, they tend to belittle the people who hold them: as in, what kind of moron would be stupid enough to think there might be greater powers in the universe than we are capable of understanding, and that those powers might affect us in ways we can’t yet fathom?
As it happens, however, Canada isn’t always ruled by Liberal governments, and defending a Governor General who strays into the realm of social and political commentary establishes a precedent that Trudeau, McKenna and their “progressive” colleagues might not consider so pleasing should they find themselves back on opposition benches, or confined to third-party status, as the Liberals were until two years ago. A Conservative-appointed governor general who felt compelled to share personal views on the need to cut taxes and reduce spending would quickly be assailed by appalled Liberals intent on protecting the non-partisan nature of the Queen’s representative in Canada.
Once again we find the Liberals supporting one set of rules for themselves, and another for everyone else. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it also shouldn’t be allowed to tarnish the standing and reputation of Payette, who is new to the job and no doubt still absorbing its subtleties. It’s not easy to be an astronaut; it takes a lot of work and study. Payette needs to apply that same ethic to learning her new duties. And the first on the list is that — whatever Liberals may think — the GG serves all Canadians, not just those whose opinions strike her as reasonable. When her opinions differ from theirs, the correct response is not mockery, but increased awareness that Canada is a country that embraces all sorts of people and ideas, even those not shared by the government of the day, no matter how infallible it may consider itself.