Roundup: An investigation into Rideau Hall

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It was announced at the end of the day yesterday that the Privy Council Office would be launching a “thorough, independent and impartial” investigation into the claims of harassment and verbal abuse at Rideau Hall, and that this would be done with the cooperation of the Secretary to the Governor General, Assunta Di Lorenzo – whom these same complainants say was Payette’s abusive tag-team partner. Payette later tweeted that she takes workplace harassment “very seriously,” for what that’s worth.

Meanwhile, Philippe Lagassé explains why Governors General need to be uncontroversial and above reproach – which extends to how they comport themselves in office, which this current situation is certainly an example of. He also makes the very salient point that the prime minister needs to be directly involved in fixing this situation one way or the other, which can mean encouraging Payette that it’s time to “spend more time with her family.” Chris Selley longs for the days of a boring GG in office, citing David Johnston as the ideal when compared to the current example (and there is a good chapter on the criteria for selecting a GG in Royal Progress, written by Senator Serge Joyal, with the observation that the women selected for the roles have largely had media presences as opposed to governance experience).

Good reads:

  • While Justin Trudeau agreed to appear at Finance committee over the WE Imbroglio, Ethics committee also wants a crack at him.
  • Unsurprisingly, the opposition parties want the Ethics Commissioner to open a second investigation in to Bill Morneau over the WE Charity trips he repaid.
  • The federal and Nova Scotia governments announced an independent panel instead of a public inquiry into the mass shooting that happened in April.
  • General Jonathan Vance has announced his retirement, leaving the PM to look for a new Chief of Defence Staff, amid concerns that Vance wasn’t offered a NATO role.
  • Two of the big three credit rating agencies confirmed Canada’s AAAA rating, expressing confidence in our fiscal and monetary strength and policies.
  • People forced to work from home because of the pandemic could qualify for some work-from-home tax deductions, but some of the rules are unclear.
  • The logistical challenges related to rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine means that governments need to start thinking about priorities and who will get it first.
  • Donald Trump’s pick for the new US ambassador to Canada, Aldona Wos, had her confirmation hearing yesterday, and she cited Huawei as a top priority.
  • Apparently the Liberals’ Wednesday caucus teleconference was “bizarrely calm,” which is hard to read for how they are handling the current situation.
  • The federal government has been silent since the Manitoba government requested $10 million to fight the meth epidemic in that province back in February.
  • The Alberta government was warned by its officials not to close or deregulate parks, and that it wouldn’t save any money, but they are moving ahead anyway.
  • Both Robert Hiltz and Paul Wells are outraged that the federal and Nova Scotia governments concocted an “independent review” on the recent mass shooting.

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: An investigation into Rideau Hall”

  1. Forget Payette. I demand an investigation into the “Ethics” committee’s relentless abuse of a 71-year-old woman who has been a courageous mental health advocate for years. Let alone the fact that the desperate opposition and their pliant media have decided to focus on this as the end-all be-all most important story, even as a pandemic is raging and fascism is rising south of 49.

    I’m proud of Justin Trudeau for not taking the bait of feckless witch hunters like Skippy and Chuckles and especially from the lying press. I never thought I’d agree with Trump on anything, but the nasty reporters really are fake news and the enemy of the people.

  2. I know you have done so in recent days and obviously it’s your tweeter feed to do with what you like, but really wish you wouldn’t retweet Jen Gerson so much. Maybe she’s a lovely in-person, but she is just so toxic to even the mildest criticism. I could list her many sins [i.e. dismissing Jagmeet Singh’s remarks on indulging debunked conspiracy theories about the masterminds of the Air India bombing of 1985 because it happened a year before she was born which is odd from her when she never stops mentioning how important the National Energy Program still remains even though it ended in 1982, but what really lost interest in her when she and tech multi-millionaire Jesse Brown debate for over twenty minutes on a podcast whether the P.M. was hot or not [shocker they both agreed he is definitely not] which is all moronic enough, but then she praised White Supremist supporting Rebel Media and used a homophobic slur about the P.M.

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