i'm surprised that the governor-general has staffers, and i'm curious as to what kind of "work" it is that was declared to be "shit". i didn't think the governor-general did any actual work at all...

this is a ceremonial post. she has to sign things sometimes, but she's not expected to actually think about it. it's just that somebody has to sign certain things as a formality, due to the nature of the state as a constitutional monarchy. and, that is what canada is - our head of state remains the queen of england. the queen is not supposed to think about what she signs either, and all the governor-general is supposed to do is sign things on her behalf.

i understand that she was chosen for this ceremonial role to demonstrate the role science will play in the sitting government, which it turns out has also been ceremonial (because this government has really been no less anti-science and no less willing to co-opt the science than the last). so, if she ends up shuffled out, it'll be interesting to see what kind of symbolic messaging gets attached to the process. i suspect the liberals may want to use this as some kind of hare-brained excuse to bring in a black governor-general, although we already went through that once.

but, beyond whatever symbolic messaging the government sends around this, the only time i like to talk about the governor-general is in the context of abolishing it, altogether. i would rather grasp upon the opportunity to minimize or otherwise discard the role, in the future.

whatever fleeting "work" it is that they're talking about, the job really shouldn't exist.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/julie-payette-governor-general-harassment-allegations-1.5657397