OTTAWA—Gov. Gen. Julie Payette has done one-third fewer public events in her first year in office than her predecessor David Johnston, a Star analysis suggests.

As Payette prepares to mark her first anniversary as the Queen’s representative in Canada, Rideau Hall has been facing questions about her schedule and workload.

The Star analysis supports the anecdotal sense in the nation’s capital that Payette has opted for a lower profile and a less jam-packed schedule than the previous office holder set in his first year on the job.

Payette has done some 195 public events since being named Governor General on Oct. 2, 2017. That compares to 296 for Johnston over the same period after he took office in October 2010.

The online records for Michaëlle Jean, who served as governor general between 2005 and 2010, show she did some 265 public events in her first year, though differences in how her appearances are posted make direct comparisons difficult.

Rideau Hall spokesperson Marie-Ève Létourneau insisted that the level of activity by Payette over the past 12 months is “quite similar” to her predecessors.

“All governors general bring something unique to the role and the institution. They all serve with a very high level of commitment and dedication, responding to the demanding nature of the position,” Létourneau told the Star in an email Friday. Rideau Hall would not say whether Payette herself would respond to questions about her schedule.

Following her installation last October, Payette did territorial and provincial visits and “continued the busy program of events planned by the team, adding several additional activities,” she said.

Létourneau was unable to provide her own numbers on Payette’s activities. But she said the current Rideau Hall website — due to be phased out in the coming days — “may not reflect” the Governor General’s “extremely busy” calendar.

Payette — a 53-year-old Montreal native — arrived in the office last year with high expectations and an impressive resumé, notably as Canada’s second female astronaut, with two space flights under her belt.

But it wasn’t long after she was installed as Governor General on Oct. 2, 2017, that Payette was sending signals she was not happy with the expected workload and schedule. It can run to hundreds of events a year, as the viceregal representative is called to celebrate achievements in the arts, honour community heroes and support charities.

There is also work behind the scenes, including private sessions with the prime minister, that Rideau Hall typically does not discuss.

But the public role is a vital one, too — and the most visible.

“It’s outside of the constitutional parts, so let’s be clear it doesn’t affect her core functions,” said Philippe Lagassé, an associate professor of international affairs at Carleton University with an expertise in the Westminster system.

“Even though she is doing her head of state functions, there’s a lot of expectations around head of nation, as it were, going out there and representing Canadians to themselves, being seen as a uniting figure,” he said.

He noted that the post — steeped in protocol and tradition — carries a heavy workload of activities, such as Order of Canada investitures and awarding military and civilian honours, even before the incoming office-holder has decided on their own priorities.

The post also touches on diplomacy, as ambassadors and high commissioners present their letters of credence to the Governor General before they assume their posts. The Governor General is also called on to represent Canada on the world stage — for instance, Payette’s trip to Thailand last October to attend the royal cremation of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, or Johnston’s attendance at the 2011 royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in London.

“The question is whether this is something that can be pared down for a governor general who may be less inclined to take on this kind of schedule,” Lagassé said.

He wonders if Payette came into the job fully aware of the demands. “I think that is the underlying issue here,” he said.

“If she was, is she allowed to push back? In this day and age, when we talk about life-work balance, maybe she is. That’s a conversation we have to have,” he said. “If you want to get people into this office, some of them may not be willing to accept the Johnston level of commitment.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Létourneau said that planning the Governor General’s program hinges on factors such as the “context of each year, the business of government and the family situation of the Governor General.” Payette has a teenage son.

“The first year of every mandate is a period of learning, adjustment and adaptation from both the Governor General and Rideau Hall staff,” she said.

For its analysis, the Star reviewed the public event schedules listed on the Rideau Hall website. The itineraries include events in Ottawa as well as out-of-town trips. The tally is not exact. That’s because detailed itineraries are not shown for some trips, such as Johnston’s 2011 trip to Kuwait and Qatar, or a full listing of Payette’s visit to the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February.

It reveals that some activities that had become part of the governor general’s annual routine in the past have fallen off the schedule under Payette, who earns close to $300,000 a year. Moreover, a number of organizations with which previous governors general have worked appear to have been dropped by Payette.

For example, each spring, the governor general has accepted a bouquet of daffodils from cancer patients to highlight the Canadian Cancer Society’s Daffodil Month. But not this year, it appears.

In his first year, Johnston presided over three ceremonies to present Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards to recognize achievements by young people. Payette has done none. That’s because she has not yet decided whether to serve as honorary patron of the organization that handles the awards, as governors general have done dating back to 1963.

Award organizers wrote to Rideau Hall a year ago to make the request. “We’re hopeful and we understand that it’s taken time. For a number of reasons she is delaying requests at the moment,” said Victoria Selano, director of fundraising and development for the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award — Canada. Other organizations have not heard if Payette will act as their patron.

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada was another organization that fell off the list this year. Every two years, it helps organize the Governor General’s Medals in Architecture, which have been presented at Rideau Hall since 2002, with the exception of 2006, when the ceremony was held in Montreal.

But when the organization went to the Governor General’s office to request that Payette present the medals at a Rideau Hall ceremony, it was turned away. “This year the email response was simply ‘Sorry, we’re not able to accommodate you this year,’” said Michael Cox, a Brandon, Man., architect who serves as the institute’s president.

In the end, the ceremony was held in Winnipeg, hosted by Janice Filmon, the lieutenant-governor of Manitoba. Payette did send a congratulatory message. “We had a glorious time … it was a wonderful event,” Cox said.

The Winnipeg Free Press noted last week that Payette will not have visited Manitoba in her first year in office, a break with the practice of some past governors general to visit all provinces and territories in their first 12 months. Payette won’t have visited Saskatchewan or Yukon, either.

But Létourneau said that Payette has “achieved, on time, all the tasks that the Governor General must execute.”

Read more about: