Julie Payette is above criticism.
An engineer, she was Canada's chief astronaut for seven years and completed two missions aboard the International Space Station. She is a single mother and a talented singer. She speaks six languages.
What's not to like about Canada's next governor general?
Nothing but there's plenty to dislike about her appointment, announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week.
She certainly doesn't need the job or the recognition. She already has 18 honorary doctorates and is highly sought after to serve on corporate boards and for leadership positions in science education.
But Trudeau needs her and what she represents. Let there be no mistake that Payette's appointment was a calculated political decision.
CBC shared the ecstatic reaction from Montreal of local residents thrilled to have their hometown girl heading to Rideau Hall. That must have been music to Trudeau's ears as his path to a second term as prime minister runs through Quebec. The federal Liberals currently hold 40 of the 78 Quebec seats in Parliament. With the upset win by Saskatchewan MP Andrew Scheer over Maxime Bernier to succeed Stephen Harper as head of the Conservatives, the 12 Tory seats in Quebec are in play. Instead of the popular Bernier, the Conservatives will be trying to hold on with Scheer, who is conversant in French but can't be considered fluent. If the federal NDP also goes with an anglophone, their 16 Quebec seats could also be up for grabs.
For the small-l liberal elite, particularly in Central Canada, Payette's appointment follows the time-honoured tradition of alternating between an Ontario anglophone and a Quebec francophone. The last governor general that didn't come from either Ontario or Quebec was Saskatchewan's Ray Hnatshyn, who served from 1990 to 1995.
There was some thought that Trudeau was appoint the first Indigenous person to ever serve as governor general but that was a naive expectation. Both Trudeau and Harper spoke extensively about repairing the relationship with the federal government and First Nations. Harper apologized for residential schools, Trudeau has appointed a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women. Both significant acts that cost the prime minister of the day nothing in political capital.
There were qualified male and female Aboriginal candidates that would have made excellent governor generals but none of them would have delivered the potential political dividends that Payette can for the Liberals in Quebec in 2019.
Meanwhile, there is another important appointment ahead for late this year or early next that Trudeau might be looking at to score some political points west of Thunder Bay.
More importantly, the commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has a far more significant day-to-day job than the governor general does.
The perfect Trudeau appointee to replace Bob Paulson would be from Western Canada, Aboriginal and female. Such a person already exists and she used to be the commanding officer at the Prince George detachment. Brenda Butterworth-Carr is currently a deputy commissioner and is the head of the RCMP in B.C. She is a member of the Tr'ondek Hwech'in Han Nation in the Yukon, where she began her career as a special constable.
She would be only the second woman and the first Indigenous person to command the national police force.
Like Payette, Butterworth-Carr could be just the person Trudeau is looking for from a political standpoint. Her appointment would demonstrate his seriousness towards the RCMP addressing its long-standing problems with sexual harassment and relationships with First Nations. Like Payette, Butterworth-Carr's credentials are outstanding. And like Payette, Butterworth-Carr's appointment would be a political decision by Trudeau, made to score points among key voter groups.
To be clear, both women have accomplished far too much in their respective careers to deflect any potential (and undeserved) criticism that they are token appointments. Payette will be a fine governor general and Butterworth-Carr would be an inspired pick to be RCMP Commissioner.
It's just too bad Trudeau's choices always seem based on how good they will make him look in the eyes of voters.
-- Editor-in-chief Neil Godbout
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