Gov. Gen. Julie Payette planning province visit in November
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/10/2018 (1989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
OTTAWA — Gov. Gen. Julie Payette has changed course, planning a visit to Manitoba in late November, after her provincial counterparts had said it wouldn’t be possible until 2019.
The about-face came after sustained media scrutiny over Payette’s work ethic, such as shirking some of the ceremonial duties that make up a grueling schedule for the vice-regal.
Tradition holds that most governor generals visit all Canadian provinces and territories within roughly their first 12 months; Payette reached that milestone earlier this month.
Premier Brian Pallister broke the news of Payette’s visit Thursday afternoon on Twitter, writing the vice-regal will visit Manitoba on Nov. 25 to 27.
“We look forward to showing her all our beautiful province has to offer and to introducing her to our thoughtful and hardworking people,” he wrote.
Rideau Hall had not issued any more detailed information, as of Thursday evening.
The private secretary to Manitoba Lt.-Gov. Janice Filmon confirmed it was a last-minute arrangement.
“We’ve not had the opportunity to speak about any programming,” Kate Gameiro told the Free Press. She said FIlmon’s office only got confirmation in recent days, and they don’t know yet whether she’ll be going beyond Winnipeg.
“We’re just thrilled that a window of opportunity presented itself, and it worked for all three people,” Gameiro said.
On Sept. 19, Gameiro said it seemed impossible to co-ordinate a time in 2018 that worked for Payette, Filmon and Pallister. “Now, we’re shooting for early in the new year,” Gameiro said at the time.
Payette did not visit Saskatchewan until this week. She is scheduled to take in a Humboldt Broncos junior hockey game on the weekend — six months after 16 people affiliated with the team were killed and 13 injured in a bus crash that rocked the nation. Earlier, sources told the Free Press they’d urged Payette to make that visit much sooner.
The vice-regal will visit West Africa later this month. She has no announced plans to visit the Yukon.
It has come to light the federal Liberal party vetted Payette’s appointment, rather than an arm’s-length advisory board; and Payette has an unusual arrangement in which she lives with a longtime friend, whom she has hired as her chief of staff.
An Angus-Reid poll earlier this month found Manitobans had diverging opinions about Payette, with 28 per cent deeming her “poorly suited” for the job, and 22 per cent saying she “will eventually settle” into it.
dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca