The Canada Revenue Agency and the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy say they have no records they were ever asked to do a background check on Governor General Julie Payette prior to her appointment.

These are two of the four federal agencies responsible for vetting candidates for top government jobs.

A third, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, initially said it had no record of being asked to conduct any checks, but abruptly reversed itself – though the agency is refusing to disclose any evidence that shows a check was done.

Letters obtained in reply to requests made under Canada’s Access to Information laws appear to contradict Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s adamant statements that the former astronaut had undergone a “thorough and in-depth” vetting process.

Candidates for top government offices are supposed to receive what is called a “four-way” background check. This involves CSIS, the RCMP, the Canada Revenue Agency and the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy.

Office holders required to undergo a Four-Way (2010) check include: ministers and ministers of state,

parliamentary secretaries,

other privy councillors

senators

the chief justice and justices of the Supreme Court

chief justices of Superior Courts

deputy ministers

heads of agencies

heads of Crown corporations

heads of Canadian missions

ambassadors not posted abroad

senior advisors to the Privy Council Office

members of the Board of Management of the Canada Revenue Agency and the Bank of Canada’s board of directors Spouses of ministers, ministers of state and parliamentary secretaries are also required to under go a Four-Way check.



A routine internet search by iPolitics reporters following Payette’s appointment discovered police records showing she had been charged with second-degree assault while living in Maryland in December 2011. The charges were later dropped and Payette has since had them legally expunged from her record.

iPolitics requested all pertinent documents under Access to Information from each of the four agencies “regarding the vetting of candidates to be Governor General of Canada between January 1, 2017 and August 1, 2017.”

In response, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSIB) said in letters they have no records that show they helped vet governor general candidates in 2017. CSIS also initially responded to the ATIP request saying that it had no records showing any checks were done as part of a proper vetting process of Payette (or any other candidates) before her appointment in July 2017.

“A record search for the requested information was completed on the basis of the information provided by you and we were unable to locate any record relevant to your request,” stated the letter from a CSIS official.

The CSIS letter’s findings were confirmed subsequently by Tahera Mufti, the intelligence agency’s chief of public affairs for its communications branch. “I have just received confirmation that, for the dates you’ve requested, ATIP doesn’t have any records to provide to you,” Mufti wrote in a Nov. 17 email. That statement was later amended to say there had been a vetting process but CSIS has refused to disclose any evidence that shows any vetting process was carried out.

CRA said: “I regret to inform you that the requested documentation does not exist.” The Dec. 11 letter was from the CRA’s Access to Information and Privacy Directorate and was signed by manager Kim Lanthier. It was in response to an Access to Information request made by iPolitics this Fall that asked for any documents “regarding any role Canada Revenue Agency had in reviewing candidates for the position of Governor General.”

The OSIB had a similar finding: “I regret to inform you that a search found no records relevant to the subject of your request,” adding “officials had advised that the RCMP conducts such searches as part of their overall assessment of candidates using the Bankruptcy and Insolvency database. The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy does not conduct such searches,” the Dec. 21 letter reads, noting “the Privy Council Office also holds records regarding governor-in-council appointments.”

Having also initially claimed to have no records, CSIS later revised its answer to say that further investigation had “surfaced relevant material” – but, citing four distinct sections of the Access to Information Act, the agency said those documents would not be released.

The Privy Council Office – which has responsibility for overseeing the federal and prime ministerial appointment process – also disputed CSIS’s initial findings.

“The Privy Council received a request to conduct a four-way background check for Ms. Julie Payette. A thorough background check prior to her installation was conducted in collaboration with our partners, including CSIS,” spokesperson Stéphane Shank wrote in a Nov. 17 email.

The RCMP has so far ignored all requests for information. The Privy Council Office has responded to one request and has since given itself a six-month extension, to June 2018, on another request that asks for updated vetting guidelines.

iPolitics has filed a complaint against CSIS with Canada’s information commissioner, arguing the agency did not make a reasonable effort to assist with, or respond accurately to, iPolitics’ request.

Similar complaints have been filed in relation to the RCMP’s refusal to respond to requests about the vetting of governor general candidates and the Privy Council Office for delays around obtaining updated vetting guidelines.

Certain senior public office holders are required to undergo four-way checks prior to appointment, according to a copy of Privy Council guidelines obtained by iPolitics from the RCMP’s previously completed Access to Information list.

The guidelines, issued by the Clerk of the Privy Council in July 2010, require the RCMP to look at police records, both provincial and municipal, relating to the candidate – including “information related to criminal charges and/or convictions, details surrounding an offence or intelligence concerning a candidate’s involvement in criminal activity.” iPolitics has a copy of the 2010 guidelines but was told by the Privy Council office they were updated in 2015.

CSIS is required to perform a “security assessment” on the candidate, as outlined under section 13 of the CSIS Act.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced 54-year-old Payette, a retired Canadian astronaut from Montréal, as Canada’s new Governor General on July 13. Trudeau made the appointment without the advice of an ad hoc committee of advisers, unlike former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who picked Payette’s predecessor David Johnston.

Anatomy of a Vetting The list of positions which are subject to four-way checks does not explicitly mention that of the Governor General. However, emails obtained by iPolitics from the Privy Council Office under Access to Information show at least one senior official expected Payette would be required to undergo a four-way check. “They’re moving on the appointment,” Allen Sutherland, the Privy Council’s assistant to the cabinet, wrote in an email sent at 1:30 p.m. to Privy Council Director of Strategic Policy Donald Booth on June 25. “Will need to have letter and other pre stuff ready. Can we move to prepare everything with name TBD? Is there much work to this?” Sutherland asked Booth. “What would it take to have things ready by 11 am Monday?” “From an instrument perspective, all we need is a letter from the PM to the Queen requesting approval of a name which she would sign,” Booth replied at 1:34 p.m. “Presumably we would want to have the 4-way security check done first?” “Security – yes!” Sutherland replied 19 minutes later. “They need to give us a name – then a few days for security check then a note up to PM seeking approval with the letter attached. 11 am Monday isn’t likely …” Booth replied two minutes later. “It seems the National Security and Intelligence Advisor has a name and is initiating the security screen,” Sutherland told Booth in an email at 2:27 p.m. Canada’s national security and intelligence adviser to the prime minister is Daniel Jean, a former deputy minister for Foreign Affairs who took over the post in May 2016 after its previous holder, Richard Fadden, retired.

“Ms. Payette’s life has been one dedicated to discovery, to dreaming big and to always staying focused on the things that matter most,” Trudeau said at the time of her appointment. “These truly Canadian traits, along with her years of public service, make her unquestionably qualified for this high office.”

Payette acknowledged the arrest and the charges, which she called “unfounded,” in a personal statement to iPolitics on July 17.

“For family and personal reasons, I will not comment on these unfounded charges, of which I was immediately and completely cleared many years ago, and I hope that people will respect my private life,” she said.

The prime minister’s office refused to confirm in July whether it had prior knowledge of the charges.

“We’ve got no comment on this,” Kate Purchase, Trudeau’s director of communication, told iPolitics in an email sent July 15. Purchase would not say whether the prime minister had been aware of the almost six-year-old criminal charge — which was ultimately dropped — before he appointed Payette.

Payette, the prime minister told reporters in Quebec City on July 20, underwent a vetting process that found “no issues” that would prevent the former astronaut from becoming Governor General.

“We have in any time there is going to be an important post filled, like governor general, a through and in-depth vetting process,” Trudeau said. “And, I can assure everyone there are no issues that arose in the course of that vetting process that would be any reason to expect Mme. Payette to be anything other than the extraordinary governor general she will be.”

The prime minister would not say whether he had discussed Payette’s past legal issues with her.

Last July, a consortium of publications that included CTV, CBC, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, iPolitics and Postmedia challenged a seal order issued by the circuit court for St. Mary’s County on the records of her divorce from William “Billie” Flynn.

Payette sought the seal on July 18 – the same day iPolitics reported on the expunged second-degree assault charge. She was married to Flynn at the time. He is believed to be the victim of the alleged 2011 assault.

Maryland Circuit Judge David Densford granted a temporary seal of the divorce records in July. Later that month, after hearing arguments from both sides, Densford decided to unseal most of the records – a decision he stayed in order to give Payette’s council a chance to seek a further stay from the Maryland Court of Special Appeals.

Payette argued unsealing the divorce documents would not be in the in best interests of her 14-year-old son. She also argued that she had a right to privacy and that the records would not be released under Canadian law.

Densford’s second stay was later extended to August 18, with the appeals court deciding on that day to extend the stay order again into the first two weeks of November. At that point, Payette would have already been sworn in as Governor General.

Given the timeline, the media outlets involved agreed to publish a story on August 22. Payette dropped her appeal of a Maryland court ruling unsealing the divorce records on August 21, knowing publication was imminent.

The media outlets involved received redacted documents from the courts in late August.

With files from BJ Siekierski, Kirsten Smith, & The Canadian Press