New panel named to advise Trudeau on choosing governor-general to succeed Payette

New panel named to advise Trudeau on choosing governor-general to succeed Payette
File Photo

The Liberal government is re-establishing an advisory panel to help select the next governor-general.

Six people are on the panel, which was announced Friday by Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc.

He’ll co-chair the group with Janice Charette, a former high commissioner to the United Kingdom now filling in as clerk of the Privy Council while regular clerk Ian Shugart is treated for cancer.

The approach is much like one used by the previous Conservative government but dropped by the Liberals when it was their turn to pick a governor-general.

Their choice – former astronaut Julie Payette – resigned earlier this year after a damning report about working conditions at Rideau Hall.

The newly struck advisory group is mandated to submit a shortlist of candidates for the prime minister’s consideration.

In addition to LeBlanc and Charette, the members are:

  • Inuit leader Natan Obed
  • Universite de Montreal rector Daniel Jutras
  • Former secretary to the governor-general Judith LaRocque
  • Interim Canada Post chair Suromitra Sanatani

Members were selected for the diverse perspectives they bring to the work, as well as their expertise on issues relating to government and the Crown in Canada,” LeBlanc’s announcement said.

Canada needs a new governor-general “on an expedited basis,” LeBlanc said, so the panel will work as quickly as it can.

With the post of governor-general vacant, Chief Justice Richard Wagner is carrying out key functions of the job as the “Administrator of the Government of Canada.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2021.

Graham CoxGraham Cox

Recent Stories

Send us your news tips and videos!