In the midst of a national health crisis, and with a minority government in Ottawa, the last thing this country needed was the historically unprecedented resignation of a sitting governor general. But here we find ourselves, with an entirely preventable, and not completely unpredictable, mini constitutional crisis on our hands, all because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decided to eschew his predecessor’s non-partisan selection process and chose a celebrity candidate to bolster the Liberal government’s progressive credentials, rather than finding the right person for the job.
Julie Payette, who had been governor general since 2017, resigned last week, following the completion of a report into allegations of a toxic work environment at Rideau Hall. The heavily redacted report paints a damning picture of the workplace, in which employees levelled allegations of “yelling, screaming, aggressive conduct, demeaning comments and public humiliation.”
Although the review into the allegations that first came to light in July was not set up to “make findings of fact or determine whether reported conduct took place,” it was conclusive in its determination that the accusations levelled against the governor general amounted to “a toxic workplace.”This is the kind of conduct that is completely unbecoming of someone whose role is to represent no less than Her Majesty the Queen. It is also the type of behaviour that should have been foreseeable, had Trudeau done his due diligence before selecting Payette for the viceregal role.
[Interesting Read]
See Also:
(1) O’Toole: Trudeau faces ‘conflict of interest’ if he picks next governor general
(2) Conservatives tried to get tough on gun crime — the Liberals and NDP blocked them
(3) Canadian Navy using leased supply ship more often — contract boosted by $71 million
(4) Mandatory hotel quarantine for international travel could be coming ‘very quickly’
(5) Trudeau’s mandatory hotel quarantine too late to do much good
