Hiring based on gender/wokeness rather than merit: not a good idea

Some people think that Justin Trudeau, aka Mr Socks/Blackie McBlackface/Emperor Trudeau II, is Canada's head of state. Except in his own mind, he is not. Under Canada's constitution, the head of state is the foreigner pictured on the left as she welcomes her diverse daughter-in-law to Buckingham Palace.

Since Her Royal Highness, Elizabeth II, Defender of the Faith, Queen of Great Britain etc etc -- for that is her name and part of her title -- does not live in the Great No-longer-white North [and who can blame her? Ed.], she appoints (in theory) a representative known as the Governor General/ gouverneur général. [In Canada, they say everything twice. Ed.]

Being "G-G" is a pretty good gig. You get a hefty salary, unlimited expense account, fancy uniforms, a nice car (with driver), and an RCMP security detail to follow you on horseback when you go jogging around Rideau Hall, the mini-castle in Ottawa which you get to live in, all paid for by the Canadian sheeple. Giggity! [Um... you're thinking of another fictional character. Ed.]

But how do you get to be Governor General? Do they advertise the job? Where do you send your résumé? That, dear reader, is the $64 ($50 in real money) question! The process by which a Governor General is chosen is cloaked in secrecy. Certain liberal elites talk in hushed tones at conclaves and  soirées at Ennui-on-the-Rideau (Canada's capital) until a name "emerges" which the Prime Minister (currently Mr Socks) then recommends to the Queen.

The previous PM, Steve Harpoon, thought the process should be a little more clear, if not totally transparent, so he put in place a selection committee whose recommendation he accepted. That was the Rt. Hon. David Johnston, who served for seven years until 2017, and was widely esteemed as courteous, courtly and bland enough to be perfect for the job.

When it came time to nominate a successor, the committee started to look at several possible candidates. The only constraint was that the new G-G be a francophone (French-speaking), since the tradition since 1952 has been to alternate between francophones and anglophones. And latterly, in the interests of diversity and gender parity, it was obvious that the next G-G had to be a woman.

While the committee was considering its options, the arch-feminist Blackie McBlackface, all by himself, came up with a candidate whose "wow factor" was such that no further search was required. Indeed, Julie Payette, a former astronaut, was so obviously the only one for the job that her other qualifications and employment history need not be checked... at all! What could go wrong?

The answer: plenty! Ms Payette was born into the liberal elite. She was raised in Montréal’s toney Ahuntsic neighborhood, where she attended private schools before being chosen to attend the prestigious United World College of the Atlantic in Wales. There, she completed an International Baccalaureate diploma.

On her return to Canada, Ms Payette studied engineering at McGill University, graduating with B.A.Sc. in electrical engineering in the mid-1980s before obtaining a M.A.Sc. in computer engineering at the University of Toronto in 1990. Just two years later, Payette was hand-picked by a committee -- which included former astronaut and current (Liberal) Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau -- to become an astronaut at the Canadian Space Agency. And go into orbit she did, with Americans, of course. 

She spoke both French and English. She could get by in Spanish, Italian, Russian and German, and she was the recipient of a whopping 28 honourary degrees. She is also a member of the Order of Canada as well as the Ordre national du Québec. On top of all that, she plays piano and has sung in multiple orchestras. How's that for "wow factor"?!

But Julie Payette ran into trouble when she came down from heavens into the real world. The Queen's signature was barely dry on the parchment of her appointment as Governor General when reports began to emerge of incidents in her personal life and past that chipped away at the perfect image portrayed on paper. 

In 2001, it was revealed, she had a second-degree assault charge expunged from her police record. The incident happened while she was living in Maryland. The "alleged" victim was her then-husband William "Billie" Flynn, a retired Air Force pilot. The couple became uncoupled shortly thereafter.

Just one day after news of the expunged assault charge emerged, the Toronto Red Star reported that Ms Payette was involved in a "no-fault" fatal car accident in July 2011, in which a woman -- a pedestrian -- was killed. Mr Socks wouldn't confirm whether the two incidents had come up during the so-called vetting process. Holding back a tear, M Trudeau told the meeja "Obviously, our heart goes out to the family affected by this tragic accident. It was a terrible and tragic thing and we know that Mme Payette actually personally reached out to share her condolences with the family subsequent to the accident."

But wait, there's more. In 2013 Ms Payette landed a plum job as Director of the National Science Centre in Montreal, in spite of never having worked for that organization or in any similar capacity. She left that position "voluntarily" in October of 2016, a fact reported at the time by the Montreal Gazoo, which surely must have been known to whoever vetted Ms Payette's nomination. What they may not have known is that she was given a golden parachute of roughly C$200,000 to go away, following complaints about her treatment of employees. 

But wait, there's still more. After leaving the Science Centre, Ms Payette was named to the Canadian Olympic Committe. She lasted there just under a year, leaving in 2017, not long before her appointment as the Queen's surrogate, after two internal investigations into her imperious treatment of staff.

Apparently verbal harassment and general bitchiness is Ms Payette's style, for that's what led to her abrupt departure from Rideau Hall. In July of this year, a CBC News report quoted a dozen confidential public servants and former employees who claim the Governor General belittled, berated and publicly humiliated Rideau Hall staff. 

She was also said to have been unhelpful to her RCMP security guards, running away from them while out jogging around the grounds. [Maybe she just needed to take a leak? Ed.] Maclean's magazine reported that, for two years in a row, Payette's office at Rideau Hall ranked among the worst in the public service for harassment complaints. An annual government survey conducted last year showed 22% of respondents working for Rideau Hall claimed to have experienced harassment. Of those employees, 74% attributed the harassment to individuals with authority over them. 

M Trudeau is now facing renewed criticism over his approach to choosing Ms Payette for the job. He persists in saying that the "vetting process was followed", but won't answer questions about how the red flags outlined above were, errr, overlooked. Ms Payette blames her personal secretary, a "dear friend" who she brought with her to Rideau to supplant a professional snivel servant. And, says the ex-GG, "different people experience things differently." 

Haven't Canadians heard that before? Do Canadians care? Will they punish Mr McBlackface for making yet another bad book club selection? Don't bet on it. Lifetime pct .981.

War of 1812 bicentennial celebrations: has anything been learned?

The first shots -- purely rhetorical -- in the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the War of 1812 have been fired. At the historic battlefield of Queenston Heights, Ontario, yesterday, the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada (and winner of the Steve Harper Prize for Excellence in Drafting Terms of Reference) launched "1000 days of commemorations" of the first war started and lost by the USA.

Perhaps because it was not a Great American Victory [like Vietnam? Ed.], the War of 1812 is not well known in the Excited States. War was declared by President Madison on June 18th, on the advice of many political and military notables, including President Jefferson who opined that the annexation of Canada -- that being the point of the exercise -- was "merely a matter of marching".

As in Vietnam, Iraq and, now, Afghanistan, it turned out to be not so easy. The United States was not prepared to prosecute a war. Madison had assumed that the state militias would easily seize Canada and that negotiations would follow. In 1812, the US Army comprised fewer than 12,000 men. Congress authorized its expansion to 35,000, but the service was voluntary and unpopular. It offered poor pay, and there were few trained and experienced officers.

The militia objected to serving outside their home states, were not open to discipline, and performed poorly against British forces when outside their home states. One of the first places this lesson was learned was at Queenston, in October of 1812, when units of the New York militia refused to cross the Niagara River to join in the invasion.

All the same, enough Americans scaled Queenston Heights to overpower a small British force and capture its gun. The British, led by Major General Isaac Brock, counter-attacked. Brock, unwisely dressed in his full-dress uniform replete with gold braid, made an easy target for American sharp-shooters as he ran up the hill, and perished.

However, his 2IC, General Roger Hale Sheaffe, arrived with reinforcements -- British regulars, Canadian militia and a large number of "Indians" (as "First Nations" people were then called), whom the Americans feared greatly for their interest in scalp-collecting.

The men in red (and green and tan and assorted other colours) handed the Americans a crushing defeat, which will be re-enacted this fall. In his address yesterday, the Governor General expressed the hope that, in the spirit of friendship between the two countries, the Americans would refrain from using live ammunition. [Ed. Please check this; I didn't really listen to the speech.] Nevertheless, as they always sing in their national anthem, the Canadians will "stand on guard".

Footnote: Major General Brock became "Sir" Isaac Brock only after his death, being knighted posthumously. A very tall monument on Queenston Heights is surmounted by a statue of Brock, looking watchfully across the river -- standing on guard, no doubt. The only statue dedicated to General Sheaffe -- who actually won the battle -- is a small one...of his horse.

Another footnote: On June 15th, Canada Post issued two stamps, one showing "Sir Isaac Brock" and the other his great Indian ally, Tecumseh. The inscription on the marginal tab (above Tecumseh) says "They protected territories from American expansionism". Indeed.

Recommended reading: Two entertaining pop histories by Pierre Berton: The Invasion of Canada (covering the period 1812-13) and Flames Across the Border (1813-14). In the latter, you can read how the Americans routed the Brits from Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) and burned the village to the ground. Of course you'll also have to read about the British and Canadian burning of Buffalo. Niagara-on-the-Lake was rebuilt and is today a very pretty little town. As for Buffalo... well...

A Haitienne who won't be feeling too much pain

Walt is watching reports from Haiti, coverage of the disastrous earthquake that struck that poor country -- the poorest in the Western Hemisphere -- a couple of days ago. Walt is waiting to hear a comment -- any comment at all -- from one of the most famous daughters of Haiti, Michaëlle Jean. Where is she?

For those who think "Who is she?" might be a better question, I will elucidate. Michaëlle Jean is none other than the Governor General of Canada. She referred to herself as Canada's head of state, until reminded that actually Queen Elizabeth II is Canada's head of state, with Her Jeanness being only a proxy or agent.

The beautiful, talented and fragrant Ms Jean owes her appointment largely to the fact that it suited the impeccably PC Liberal government of Paul Martin to appoint a bilingual "woman of colour". The myth about her being a refugee who had made good in the world of journalism didn't hurt either.

It is a myth, you know. Far from being a barefoot girl who escaped from the slums of Petionville, Ms Jean was, in fact, the pampered darling of a well-to-do sugar daddy, who also happened to be a separatist. Through his connections Ms Jean landed a job with Radio Canada (a nest of separatists) where she did nothing to distinguish herself.

But it cannot be denied that Michaëlle was the right colour, from the right province, and looked good in photo ops. Thus she became Canada's stand-in monarch.

Where is she now? During her reign she has exhibited a fondness for swanning around the world, on the taxpayers' dime of course. When Prime Minister Harpoon wanted to prorogue Parliament, Her Jeanness had to be called back to Ottawa [from where? ed.] to give the royal assent. Where is she now?

Walt would also like to know exactly how much the G-G is going to contribute to the Haiti disaster relief fund. She draws a pretty good salary, not forgetting free rent for a pretty big chunk of prime real estate, free rides on government jets and numerous other perks.

Saying "I feel your pain" -- not that she's said anything yet -- wouldn't be enough. Surely she could spare a little change for the dispossessed and bereaved of her native land? We shall see.