Julie Payette, rebellious and embattled Governor General, rubber-stamps Liberals' prorogue request
EDMONTON — Julie Payette, Canada’s embattled governor general, was a central character in the prorogue request from an equally embattled Liberal government. It is the prerogative of the governor general to deny or approve a request from the prime minister to prorogue Parliament.
From the earliest reports of Payette’s tenure as the head of state, they painted a picture of a rebellious governor general, who’s uniquely uninterested in a ceremonial job, and balked over her role as a passive rubber-stamper for the government.
Ever since, it has been a cascade of negative press: she’s refused to move in to the official residence in Ottawa, preferring to live at her cottage in Quebec or another guesthouse in the capital — even as some $250,000 has been spent on renovating Rideau Hall. She’s super-private, doesn’t like being in the public eye.
She’s not appeared at the occasional event she’s expected at, has reportedly done her darnedest to evade her RCMP security team, and has allegedly presided over a toxic and unpleasant work environment in her office, which is now subject to a review by the Privy Council Office.
Today, when the moment arrived to exercise her powers of state, Payette rubber-stamped the prime minister’s request to prorogue Parliament.
These are “routine powers of the governor general,” explains Philippe Lagassé, a Carleton University professor and an expert on the Westminster system. “There’s a lot going on here that will involve her.”
Emmett Macfarlane, a University of Waterloo political scientist says: “We should have confidence the governor-general is going to follow the advice of a prime minister who enjoys the confidence of the House.”
· Freeland confirmed as finance minister, Trudeau prorogues Parliament until late September
· How Julie Payette's time running the Montreal Science Centre foreshadowed trouble at Rideau Hall
But the narrative of controversy that continuously surrounds Payette raised the prospect of even more political drama on Tuesday — before Trudeau’s afternoon press conference settled the matter.
“The fact that we’re even raising the question — ‘maybe Payette will do something weird here’ — is actually part of the problem,” says Macfarlane.
Had there been a hiccup with the prorogue request, it wouldn’t have been the first time a prime minister has run into problems with his governor general. During the 2008-09 prorogue crisis under Stephen Harper, when the Liberals and New Democrats briefly considered taking over the government, backed by the Bloc Quebecois, then governor-general Michaëlle Jean only granted Harper’s request to prorogue Parliament on the condition he reconvened after six weeks.
“I was in a position where I could have said no,” Jean told CBC in the aftermath. “And the decision had really to, in my mind, be in the best interests of the country, looking at all of the circumstances.”
At the time, the Globe and Mail reported that Harper’s government had considered going all the way to the Queen with their request for prorogation, if Jean balked.
The 1926 King-Byng Affair — lovingly referred to as the King-Byng Thing in political science circles — saw then-governor-general Julian Byng refuse William Lyon Mackenzie King’s request to dissolve Parliament, saying the Conservative party ought to get a chance to form government.
The Tories gave it a shot, fell under a confidence vote, and King became prime minister again anyhow.
• Email: tdawson@postmedia.com | Twitter: tylerrdawson