Trudeau, Payette may be headed for awkward encounter over throne speech, observers say

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau andGov. Gen. Julie Payetteare headed for what could be an uncomfortablepublic momenton Wednesday,whenPayettedelivers thespeech from the thronewhile her office is under a cloud of controversydue toharassment claims.

The GovernorGeneral is always the centre of attention when athrone speechis presented but never before like this.

Earlier this month, thePrivy Council Office confirmed it hadhired a private companyto conduct a probeinto claims of a toxic work environment and verbal harassment at Rideau Hall. The probe was triggered bya CBC News story detailing reports of mistreatment.

CBC News has spoken to morethan 20 sources, including current public servants and former Rideau Hall employees, who say thatPayette has created a toxic workplace by yellingat, belittlingand publicly humiliatingstaff. Payette's second-in-command and longtime friend,Assunta Di Lorenzo,also faces claims of bullying employees.

Political scientists and constitutional experts say they expect to see Trudeau and Payette going through the motionsof the throne speech ceremony while trying to downplay any suggestions ofunderlying tension between the PMO and Rideau Hall.

"It's an awkward situation," said Michael Jackson, president of the Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada at Massey College in Toronto. "One has never seen as prolonged a criticism of a vice-regal person as in this particular case."

Jackson said he plans to watch Payette's delivery of the speechvery closelyto see if she adds any comments of her own. While the speech itself is written by the Prime Minister's Office and outlinesthe government's policy vision, governors general are the ones whoactuallyreadthe speech publiclyin the Senate chamberand can also add a preambleabout their own activities.

On occasion, past governors generalhave injected short passages into throne speeches touching onevents of national importance, such asupcoming royal visits or anniversaries, Jackson said. The Privy Council Office, which receives a Governor General's introductory text to be included in the speech, confirmedit "typically includes a few paragraphs."

But in a departure from the norm,Payette added 11 to 12 paragraphs to the speech in 2019including a reference to the shared"space-time continuum."

'Platitudes'

"We share the same planet," Payettesaid during the2019 speech."We know that we are inextricably bound to the same space-time continuum and on board the same planetary spaceship."

"I thought it was surprising for the Governor Generalto put her own imprint on what is a speech by and for the government of the day. These kinds of almost platitudes and digressions confused many people," Jackson said.

Philippe Lagass of Ottawa's Carleton University researches the roles of Parliament and the Crown in Westminster states like Canada. Hesaid Payette feels strongly about protecting her privacy and how she's portrayed in the media andhewouldn't be surprised if she makes some referenceto the controversy swirling around her office in Wednesday's speech.

"I think it will be interesting to see if Her Excellency makes a point of addressing the criticisms in some direct or indirect way," he said.

Beyond the harassment claims, thosecontroversies include the hundreds of thousands of dollarsin public money spent onenhancingPayette'spersonal privacy.CBC News has also cited sources sayingPayette's disregard forthe Mounties paid to protect her has resulted in added security risks and unnecessary costs to the taxpayer.The National Postand Radio-Canadapublished stories aboutclaims of ill treatmentof staff when Payette ran theMontreal Science Museum.

But anythingRideau Hall wantsto add to the speech would have tobe vetted by the governmentahead of time. The Privy Council Office plays a role in overseeing that vetting process.

"This isn't going to come as a surprise to anybody unless she chooses to ad lib on the spot," Lagass said.

Barbara Messamore, a history professor and fellow of the Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada, saidWednesday'sspeech from the throne is likelyto go smoothly. She said it would be wise for Payette to keep heradditions to the speech to an absolute minimum.

"We should not see any nod to any controversy," said Messamore. "That's not what the occasion is about and I think it would be a distraction."

The prime minister skirted the harassment controversy at first. More than a month after it broke, however,Trudeau called Payette an "excellent" Governor General and said he had no intention of replacing her. His words offended many of the whistleblowers who complained of harassment one said it felt like a "kick in the stomach."

Asked laterwhy he praised Payette publicly, Trudeau referred to her former roles as anastronaut and scientist.

"We have engaged a third-party reviewer to followup on these serious allegations and we will wait for the reviewer to do their work," Trudeau said on Sept. 9.

Errol Mendes, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Ottawa and a former senior adviser to the Privy Council Office, said Trudeau's comment likely was meant to lighten the atmosphere between the PMO and Rideau Hallbefore the throne speech.

"I think he was trying to temper the fact he had just launched a truly historic investigation into the allegations of the Governor General," Mendes said. "That has never happened before in the history of the country.

"So maybe he was trying to lessen the potential tension between him and the Governor General before the throne speech."