Where is our GG?

When Julie Payette was named last year as Canada’s 29th Governor General there was widespread excitement and praise for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s selection to this historically symbolic position.

Payette seemed to many as a natural for the largely ceremonial post as our de facto head of state, representing the Queen in Canada. She had enjoyed a stellar career as an engineer, pilot and astronaut, embodying the best qualities of determination, ambition and achievement.

“Whether as Canada’s chief astronaut or as an Olympic flag bearer you represented the very best of what it means to be Canadian, to service Canada with aplomb and integrity,” Trudeau told her the day she officially assumed her office.

Now, a year later, it may be time for Trudeau to have another chat with Payette and remind her of what Canadians expect of their Governor General.

The talk is needed because Payette has clearly decided to put her own unique stamp on the role — and it’s one that’s raising serious questions about her workload, schedule and, indeed, her overall commitment to the job.

As a Toronto Star analysis of her schedule has revealed, Payette has dramatically reduced the number of events she has attended, speeches she has delivered and trips she had made outside of Ottawa compared to her recent predecessors David Johnston and Michaëlle Jean. She rarely attends events on weekends, has never travelled to Manitoba, Saskatchewan or the Yukon and, six months after the Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy, still has yet to visit the community.

At the same time, Payette has stiff-armed a number of organizations with whom previous governors general have worked. She declined to accept daffodils from cancer patients during the Canadian Cancer Society’s Daffodil Month, has not presided over ceremonies to present the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards honouring young people and refused requests for her to present the Government General’s Medals in Architecture.

Payette might be excused for these actions if she had substituted them with a new vision for the role she accepted, such as leading a national campaign to encourage girls and young women to pursue careers in science and technology as she had done.

But she has done none of that. Instead, all she has done is raise questions about whether she is up to the job. More seriously, it raises the question of whether she even wants the job any more.

These are tough questions Trudeau should pursue with our Governor General — and soon.