The news of Julie Payette’s resignation shocked many Canadians; but if reports are to be believed, her premature exit as governor general had been a long time coming.
The governor general in Canada may be seen as a figurehead, or what some people may refer to as a rubber stamp, but it’s a position whose vital functions within the government of Canada becomes painfully obvious when it is vacant.
Advising the Queen on who to select as Governor General is among the most important duties of any Prime Minister. Yet, amid all of the privileges that come along with it, and within her first year of office, Payette was supposedly dissatisfied.
Last year, it was revealed that Payette's demands for security and 'privacy from the public' were getting out of hand. She had spent over $100,000 of taxpayer funds to design a new private staircase for her personal use (that was never built), over $140,000 to build a series of gates and doors to prevent easy access to her office, and even considered using tax dollars to build a door for her cat to enter and exit Rideau Hall (from the second floor).
The news of Julie Payette’s resignation shocked many Canadians; but if reports are to be believed, those close to her would have known that the premature end of her time as governor general had been a long time coming.
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