Ground Control to Julie Payette: #TimesUp

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We can talk around the subject of whether Canada needs a Governor-General anymore, but there is no question that the current G-G has to go.

Julie Payette might be a world leading voice in science, medicine, space travel and so on, but she obviously sucks at human relations. According to a CBC report, Payette spends her days plucking the wings off her employees, and reduces them to puddles in the parking lot.

Nothing these employees do matters. None of them are worthy, their work is shoe-pucky, and only she is able to fulfill all the duties of the Office of the Governor-General. So she tears up their stuff, berates them for hours on planes where they are held captive for hours, and gives them a twenty-question quiz on space.

Word, Your Excellency! The Governor-General has no jurisdiction in space.

The job of the Governor-General is to smile, wave and make nice with Canadians, pin medals on their chests, eat over-priced food made specifically to her liking, and give speeches. (I wonder how much she's actually doing during the pandemic since she can only give speeches to 10 people which means she's pretty much talking to her staff right now.)

After reading this story, I am wistful for days of old when Ray Hnatyshyn was G-G. I remember once patting him on the butt and asking in serious journalistic fashion, "Boxers or briefs?"

"Depends on the day," he chortled.

It's true, Ray didn't go to space. He was just a small time lawyer and former politician from Saskatchewan, but he understood people. And he was kind. And wonderful. And he cared about Canada.

Ditto David Johnston, the predecessor to JP who also did not go to space. But he was a constitutional expert, and had a level of expertise that could prove useful for the Queen's representative in Canada.

But Johnston didn't challenge his staff to take tests about the constitution. He smiled, he waved, he gave speeches, and he cared about Canada.

Johnston was, in fact, our version of Mr. Rogers and Canada was his neighbourhood.

I never had a problem with the idea of having a Governor-General. It is a tradition, nice to have, but not necessary in a time when we face a future with Charles and Camilla, Harry and Meghan. I never gave much thought to it.

But now, I'm really pissed off and I want Her Excellency pack up her lab stuff, fold up her racing bike and clear out. Rideau Gate would make a nice new home for Justin and Sophie, a little far away from the gates for their own safety.

It makes me even more angry that Payette is a woman.

She should know better than to treat people like human garbage.

Don't get me wrong; I don't hold women to a higher standard.

But I do hold them to the same standard as men who get these plum assignment.
I know that Chris Hadfield would have made a better Governor-General than you. Not because he's male, but because he possesses the right stuff to do the job.
He's kind, he cares about Canada. But most of all, he's humble.

If you can't treat your staff they way you would treat your mother, who knows how you'll treat total strangers? Maybe she cares about Canada, but clearly, Payette doesn't care about Canadians.

She is unkind, uncouth, unrepentant.

If she'd been a manager at the CBC, she'd be gone yesterday.

I'm thinking the Prime Minister needs to give her notice.

Change the locks.

Sorry, G-G, #YourTimeIsUp.

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