A strong symbol for Canada
Julie Payette has told the story of how a high school counsellor once advised her to think about becoming an airline flight attendant. Coming from a modest middle-class family in Montreal, that was about as ambitious as she was expected to get.
Thankfully for her, and for Canada, she aimed much higher. As an engineer, astronaut, linguist, musician and much more, she has accumulated an outstanding record of achievement — and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made an outstanding decision in naming her to be Canada’s 29th Governor General since Confederation.
Payette has all the attributes to make an excellent Governor General. It is an almost entirely ceremonial post, but these days especially it carries a heavy symbolic weight. Who we choose to act as our de facto head of state (in the absence of the Queen) sends a powerful message to both Canadians and the world.
Which is why the only niggle raised about Payette’s appointment appears to be not about who she is, but about what she isn’t. She is not Indigenous, and there is a powerful feeling that the time is ripe for First Nations people finally to fill such important roles in our national life.
This is perfectly understandable, and until real progress is made on this front there will be disappointment every time an opportunity for such an appointment goes unfulfilled.
The government’s next such opportunity is fast approaching: it must fill Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin’s seat on the Supreme Court of Canada, and it should make every effort to name an Indigenous judge to the top court.
If anything, that would be a bigger breakthrough than having an Indigenous GG. The job of a Supreme Court judge is much more than symbolic; it’s a way to shape Canadian law for years to come and there are well-qualified Indigenous candidates who would do credit to the court.
All that, though, should not overshadow the importance of naming Payette to the position of Governor General.
As a francophone woman who at 53 will be the second youngest governor general in modern times (after Ed Schreyer, who became GG when he was just 43), Payette embodies a rare blend of qualities — determination, ambition and singular achievement.
Her appointment sends a strong signal about the importance of science and technology in our national life. She made her reputation as an engineer, pilot and one of only 10 Canadians who have flown in space. She spent some 25 days in orbit during two missions, and is ideally placed to make the role of science a more vital part of the national conversation, especially given the recent naming of two new astronauts by the Canadian Space Agency.
Importantly, too, Payette’s stellar career makes clear to girls and young women that they need not put boundaries on their ambitions and that so-called STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers can be within their grasp. She knows first-hand what it is to be a woman in a field dominated by men, and how to make sure that does not hold you back.
Such achievement, of course, can come at a cost for both women and men. Regardless of gender, it takes a rare person to achieve at the level she has reached. Her intensity, she has acknowledged, has a flip side. “I know I’m a perfectionist, driven, maybe even compulsive,” she once told an interviewer.
Canadians will soon have a chance to see that drive on display on the national stage. We wish her luck.
Julie Payette appointment sends a strong signal about the importance of science and technology