Payette resigns as Governor General
Apology offered after PMO review reveals ‘toxic workplace’
OTTAWA
Julie Payette resigned as Canada’s Governor General Thursday, saying that to protect the integrity of her office and for the good of the country, it was time for her to go.
Payette joins a very short list of governors general who have left the post early and is the first to do so mired in controversy. Her decision to leave will have both political and practical consequences for the minority Liberal government.
Payette, 57, handed in her resignation ahead of the imminent release of the results of an investigation into allegations of a toxic workplace at Rideau Hall, over which she has presided since being appointed to the post in 2017.
In her statement, she apologized for tensions there, and while she welcomed the investigation into workplace conditions, she also suggested she disagreed with the characterizations of her leadership.
“We all experience things differently, but we should always strive to do better, and be attentive to one another’s perceptions,” she said.
“I am a strong believer in the principles of natural justice, due process and the rule of law, and that these principles apply to all equally. Notwithstanding, in respect for the integrity of my viceregal office and for the good of our country and of our democratic institutions, I have come to the conclusion that a new governor general should be appointed,” she continued.
“Canadians deserve stability in these uncertain times.”
She also suggested personal reasons were part of her decision, citing her father’s declining health.
“So it is with sureness and humility, but also with pride over what was accomplished during my tenure as Governor General and in my service to the country for the past 28 years, that I have submitted my resignation,” she wrote.
In a terse statement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged he had received her resignation.
“Every employee in the government of Canada has the right to work in a safe and healthy environment, and we will always take this very seriously,” he said.
“Today’s announcement provides an opportunity for new leadership at Rideau Hall to address the workplace concerns raised by employees during the review.”
Payette, a former astronaut, was named to the position in 2017.
While she wasn’t the first female governor general, her appointment followed the nearly sevenyear term of noted academic David Johnston.
Trudeau’s decision to install a woman with a long history in the sciences was seen as a reflection of the Liberals’ commitment to encourage more women to be active in those areas.
But Trudeau’s decision was questioned nearly from the start, and again on Thursday.
To select Payette, Trudeau abandoned a formal panel set up by the previous Conservative government to make viceregal appointments, and instead moved the decision into his office.
Shortly after she took the job, it emerged that Payette had been charged with second-degree assault while living in Maryland in 2011.
She called the charge unfounded and it has since been expunged.
But as details of that emerged, so did revelations that she was involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident that same year. The case was closed without charges after a police investigation.
Both incidents raised immediate questions about how thoroughly she had been vetted for the job and accusations she wasn’t the right fit for it have dogged her ever since.
She did not move into the official residence of Rideau Hall, citing privacy concerns linked to renovations, some of which she had requested herself and whose price tag would eventually become a political problem for the Liberals.
Instead, Payette based herself in her home province of Quebec, where she has spent a great deal of time during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last summer, the CBC reported, citing anonymous sources, that Payette had yelled at, belittled and publicly humiliated employees, reducing some to tears or prompting them to quit.
In turn, the Privy Council Office — the civil servants who support Trudeau’s work — hired Ottawa-based Quintet Consulting Corp. to investigate.