With this being Governor General David Johnston’s last week on the job, and before we see the installation of Julie Payette as his successor next week, I thought I’d share this thread from Philippe Lagassé from the weekend on the job of being GG.
https://twitter.com/pmlagasse/status/911698953879597056
https://twitter.com/pmlagasse/status/911700156059471873
https://twitter.com/pmlagasse/status/911700872366903298
https://twitter.com/pmlagasse/status/911701713077366789
https://twitter.com/pmlagasse/status/911702540508680192
https://twitter.com/pmlagasse/status/911703691085979648
Meanwhile, that interview with Maclean’s that Johnston did last week also sparked a few thoughts from Lagassé as well.
https://twitter.com/pmlagasse/status/909846125879980032
https://twitter.com/pmlagasse/status/909846543150272514
While I think that Johnston was an okay GG, I do recall there being a few…brow-raising incidents early in his tenure, which most people seem to have glossed over. One was during a cabinet swearing-in shortly after one of the Harper-era elections, where reporters at Rideau Hall noted that he was doing a lot of high-fiving with newly sworn-in cabinet ministers, and while those on the scene tried to raise the issue over Twitter, it got swallowed by the news cycle shortly. (Remember that Johnston was appointed not long after he drafted very narrow terms of reference for the Oliphant Inquiry into Brian Mulroney’s dealings with Karlheinz Schriber, which again were curious at the time). The other incident for me that I found a bit curious was during an interview that Johnston had with George Stroumoublopoulos, in which Strombo raised the promotion of family as one of the things that Johnston was keen to promote during his time in office, and when he asked what that meant, Johnston replied that it started with the nuclear family. As someone for whom the nuclear family was never going to be an option, I found the response curious but it wasn’t really delved into. Nevertheless, Johnston’s tenure has been largely unremarkable, which was probably what those who appointed him were looking for after two previous Governors General that were media darlings and in danger of being a bit self-aggrandizing at times. We’ll see what Julie Payette brings to the role, and I look forward to her installation.
Good reads:
- NAFTA talks were held in Ottawa over the weekend, and because they didn’t block-book hotels in time, they had to shuttle delegates in school busses. Classy!
- From the talks, there was no expectation on movement on auto parts rules, and it sounds like the Americans don’t want a gender chapter with any teeth to it.
- Our chief negotiator says it’s too soon to say if we’ll be done by the end of the year, while the Americans have officially taken aim at supply management.
- Here is yet more fact-checking on the rhetoric around the proposed tax changes.
- John McCallum insists that we are not going blindly into trade talks with China.
- More senators respond to Senator Harder’s ideas about independent oversight for the chamber.
- The RCMP will be turning over Métis artifacts from their Cultural Centre in Regina over to the Métis people.
- It looks like Oracle will get a sole-source contract to help fix the Phoenix pay system.
- Here is an interesting look at forgiveness when it comes to political scandals.
- Jagmeet Singh says he wants to run in 2019 in Brampton East, but he’ll have no sartorial advantage facing off with snappily dressed Raj Grewal.
Odds and ends:
The funeral for Arnold Chan was held on Saturday.
Conservative MP Diane Watts has formally announced her bid to lead the BC Liberal Party, and will resign her federal seat shortly, less than two years after winning it.
From the Invictus Games in Toronto, Prince Harry called Canada his “home away from home,” as he met with the GG and Justin Trudeau.