PM defends picking Payette

Trudeau also defends Khadr payout

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says a “deep and extensive” vetting process showed no issues that should prevent Julie Payette from being Governor General — but he still refuses to say whether he’d discussed with Payette her past legal issues.

Pressed Thursday by reporters over whether he’d talked to Payette about two police matters from 2011 that have come to light via media reports, Trudeau was vague.

“The conversations I had with Mme. Payette centred around the extraordinary service, her vision of the country, her vision of the role that she would fulfil as Governor General, and demonstrated to me her extraordinary strength in being one of our great Governor Generals,” he said.

“The vetting process is deep and extensive, and raised absolutely no issues that would prevent her from being Governor General.”

This week, iPolitics reported that an assault charge was filed — but then quickly dismissed — against Payette in November 2011, when she lived in Maryland with then-husband Billie Flynn. The charge does not appear on official Maryland court records, having apparently been expunged, and no information has been released about why it was initially laid.

Payette has said in a statement she was “immediately and completely cleared many years ago,” and asked that her privacy be respected.

The next day, CTV and the Toronto Star reported Payette had been driving a car that fatally struck a pedestrian earlier in 2011, but the police investigation subsequently cleared her of any fault.

Maryland court records also show Payette had an extensive, multi-year divorce proceeding with Flynn that included a motion to garnish his earnings over child support, but it was abruptly wrapped up over the past month.

A motion to seal those records from public access was introduced on Tuesday. A judge has yet to rule on that sealing motion.

A source told the National Post the government was aware of these issues ahead of her nomination. Trudeau, however, has repeatedly declined to discuss his personal knowledge of the incidents.

“I can assure everyone that there are no issues that arose in the course of that vetting process that would be any reason to expect Mme. Payette to be anything other than the extraordinary Governor General she will be,” he said during Thursday’s news conference in Barrie, Ont.

On Thursday Trudeau again defended the government’s payout to Omar Khadr, saying previous governments were complicit in violating Khadr’s rights and a settlement was necessary to avoid a much more expensive court ruling.

He told reporters he was troubled by the $10.5-million payout to Khadr, but it had to proceed because past Canadian governments are “complicit” in violating his rights.

Liberal ministers have frequently blamed Stephen Harper’s Conservative government for how it treated Khadr, but Trudeau’s reference to plural governments appears to include the Liberal governments of Paul Martin and Jean Chrétien.

“Previous governments systematically and deliberately neglected to defend and were even complicit in the violation of a Canadian citizen’s rights,” he said.

“When a Canadian’s rights are violated, everyone pays.”

Conservative MPs have lately been in U.S. media attacking the settlement, with Peter Kent writing a column for the Wall Street Journal and Michelle Rempel appearing in a Fox News segment.

On Thursday, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer rejected Liberal claims that the media appearances are creating trouble ahead of crucial NAFTA negotiations with the U.S. government.

“They realize that Canadians are very upset about this and outraged, so they’re trying to distract from that,” Scheer said, saying Conservatives still show a united Canadian front on trade issues.

“It’s no surprise that they’re desperately trying to latch on to another angle of the story to deflect attention from the core of the matter, which is that this was a personal decision from Justin Trudeau to go above and beyond what any court order ever indicated was a responsibility of the government.”

As for the Governor General, Scheer said his support of Payette’s nomination is unchanged, and largely reserved comment about Trudeau’s vetting process.

“I think it is important that he is open and transparent about that, and I think at the very least he could answer questions about how that operates,” he said. “I’ll leave it to the prime minister to explain how he arrives at his decisions.”

WHEN A CANADIAN’S RIGHTS ARE VIOLATED, EVERYONE PAYS.