The G.G.

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Lastpointe

Well-Known Member
When Payette was announced as the new GG three years ago I suspect most of Canada was impressed. She is definitely an impressive person with quite the resume

but it has not been smooth sailing. Initially there was the surprise of a car accident fatality and a charge of spousal assault. Both of those were dropped and so she sort of moved on

but then there were the stories of how she didn’t want to do the required ceremonial duties. It seemed she wanted to be more of an advocate for things perhaps? ( remembering an infamous speech she gave dearly in ) Or Was it just That as an accomplished person she didn’t like being told what to do, what to wear, who to greet....... but it was definitely looking like a poor fit for a GG. Especially after David Johnson who was an outstanding GG.
and I can imagine that the job can be quite dull. Although it comes with a pretty nice house, a pretty nice salary, a lot of cool travel, and a big staff. So perhaps not too onerous

but now that big staff is speaking out and boy are they upset. And as any employee, but especially a federal unionized employee , they are right to speak out. Bullying in the work place is not allowed. Period

so now what? The PM can’t fire her. The Queen is unlikely to do so. The person the staff are supposed to report problems to is one of the problems.

will she resign? Will the independent person now looking into complaints find she is guilty of the charges made on CBC? And if so , then what?
 
One never knows what power will do to personality development!

The power of the penne can cause smudges ... then comes the sixth! Cath R'Cis as a spin off of Karen ... and nobody kard ...
 
It's too bad because she's the sort of person we need in the role in so many ways. An engineer, an astronaut, fluent in both languages. Much better than the party hacks and ex-politicians that used to populate the role at one time. And before that, of course, British nobles looking for a sinecure overseas. Some of the same could be said for David Johnston, her predecessor, who was a lawyer and academic (he was president of University of Waterloo when he got the job) but as a white Anglo male, he was still kind of representative of "old Canada", certainly moreso than her. One also wonders who is complaining and what really happened, considering how women are often vilified for behaviour that is lauded in men. In any case, we've had some interesting GG appointments in the past couple decades and I hope that continues. A return to the old ways would not be welcome, IMHO.
 
I actually think she would have made a excellent MP. Minister of ?? Such an accomplished person

but this doesn’t seem like a very good fit for her

the CBC report was pretty scathing. But of course it could be a handful of disgruntled people. Though Rideau Hall has Been getting bad employee ratings
 
I liked Michel Jean. The two I paid attention to were Jean and Johnson. GG's don't tend to stir up problems, though. They generally go pretty unnoticed by me. They get the job, somebody else gets the job later, and so on.

Johnson wasn't great in my opinion. He could've stopped Harper - theoretically anyway (otherwise what's the real point in the job if they can't interfere in emergencies) - and he didn't say boo, or even criticize.
 
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That isn’t the role of GG. His / her role is to represent the queen. And we certainly don’t want the queen to interfere in our politics

its ceremonial. And occasionally steps into politics but to read throne speeches. To open or close parliament

johnson stepped outside the box a bit to advocate for the issue of head injury and that was non political and something that needed to be advocated for
 
I liked Michel Jean too but also a controversial choice after it came out about her speeches advocating Quebec separation. And her husband was profoundly separatist. Doubt she would have been chosen if that had come to anyone’s attention

but she was gracious, smart, savy and agree, She did a good job. And I was happy to see a woman of colour and an immigrant get the job
 
That isn’t the role of GG. His / her role is to represent the queen. And we certainly don’t want the queen to interfere in our politics

its ceremonial. And occasionally steps into politics but to read throne speeches. To open or close parliament

johnson stepped outside the box a bit to advocate for the issue of head injury and that was non political and something that needed to be advocated for
The Queen/ Queen’s rep can’t stop a dictator from ramming through fascist bills? Can’t stop prorogation? I know we’ve been through this before - but the GG has to sign off on things. What if he had said no?
 
No dictator was ramming through racist bills. An elected government was doing their work. You might not have voted for them and might it have liked it but they were elected

and no

that isn’t the role of the GG. Do you really want to see an appointed person be able to decide the laws of the country? Parliament decides.

our current GG seems to be the wrong fit. Right from the start. She does half the ceremonial events of her predecessors. She has balked at them. I somehow feel that the role was not completely explained to her
 
It this latest issue is a big one. If she is screaming at staff, as reported by CBC and numerous staff that is a big issue. The reporting said she quizzes themselves on the solar system for gods sake And people leave her office in tears

the issue is that as the queens rep she doesn’t actually report to government. It’s not like turfing a cabinet minister for these actions. Which would happen in a flash if that was the story
 
A formal icon without real power ... something to worship for nothing! The people love this stuff because of millenia of conditioning ... indoctrination against demos!

Thus self dislike ...
 
I also thought it was an odd appointment, not having heard too much about Payette in public life prior to this. Makes me wonder if she herself is bored and feeling handcuffed by the position which perhaps is turning out to be far different than imagined. And then there's the possible brutality of menopause ....
 
One wonders why one would accept an appointment for which one is not inclined... It's not like it's a surprising role.
 
One wonders why one would accept an appointment for which one is not inclined... It's not like it's a surprising role.

Ego? Sense of duty? Maybe was more inclined than we think? I'm not really inclined to seek the job but if Trudeau called up tomorrow and offered it, I'd give it serious consideration. Nice house, all expenses paid travel, get to hobnob with world leaders and monarchs, maybe meet the Queen. Not sure I'd accept a second term if offered, but I could probably survive one. Hey, maybe we should have a national lottery with the winner getting to be G-G. Of course, that potentially leads to "Mike from Canmore" as G-G.
 
With your background maybe that would insert some fresh computerized air ... @Mendalla

I could start a G-G web forum where people can come in and discuss the issues of the day with ... well ... me. Not likely that the government would actually allow that, but it seems like a good use of my time and talents in the service of the country.
 
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