‘Proud of all we have achieved,’ GG tells staff
JULIE PAYETTE
OTTAWA • Governor General Julie Payette says the criticism she is facing at the end of her first year in office is a natural course of events and in a memo to her staff she says they shouldn’t let the critics get them down.
“As you know, a number of recent news stories and commentaries have portrayed an unfavourable image of our work at the beginning of this mandate,” Payette wrote in an email to all Rideau Hall employees on Sept. 27.
“I sincerely regret if this has affected you and it shouldn’t in any way negatively impact the pride you take in your work and in being part of this office. Though not without challenges, the past year has been extraordinary. I am very proud of all we have achieved together to date and it is a privilege to work with such a dedicated and talented group of people.”
But some insiders are questioning what exactly Payette thinks she has achieved as she gets set to mark one year on the job on Oct. 2, and their concerns are spilling into the public realm and media.
Payette has made some vocal enemies who use words like “disaster” and “outrageous” to describe her style and work as the governor general.
Nobody close to Rideau Hall would speak on the record fearing reprisals but the general message is the same — Payette, whose whip smart intellect and headstrong personality suited her well in life as an astronaut, is like a square peg trying to fit into a very round hole as governor general.
Their concerns range from her work ethic — she has attended 195 official events in her first year compared to more than 250 for the last two governors general — to her tendency to micromanage her staff.
And she is breaking with a tradition that saw governors general visit all provinces and territories in her first year, missing Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Yukon to date.
One insider says one of the biggest problems is that she insisted on reviewing all the governor general’s patronages — organizations she endorses and which can cite her role in their promotional materials — but a year into her mandate hasn’t released the new criteria.
Payette’s decision to appoint as her top adviser a close friend with no experience in protocol or the governor general’s operations also ruffled a lot of feathers.