53 per cent of Canadians unsatisfied with Julie Payette’s job performance, poll finds

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A majority of Canadians say Governor-General Julie Payette is doing a poor or somewhat poor job, according to a new Nanos Research poll.

Thirty-two per cent of respondents said Ms. Payette is doing a poor job, while 21 per cent said she is doing a somewhat poor job. One in four said they were unsure.

Ms. Payette is the subject of a workplace review after concerns were raised by former and current employees of Rideau Hall.

Last week, the Privy Council Office said an Ottawa-based private corporation, Quintet Consulting, will investigate and draft a report on the nature of concerns within the Office of the Secretary to the Governor-General (OSGG).

Both current and former employees of the OSGG will be invited by the firm to confidentially share their perspectives, the PCO said.

The Nanos poll, commissioned by CTV News, was conducted through a telephone and online random survey of 1,039 Canadians, 18 and older, between Aug. 31 and Sept. 3.

Canadians from the Prairies (40 per cent) and British Columbia (37 per cent) are more likely to say Ms. Payette is doing a poor job than Canadians from Quebec (18 per cent).

And men are more likely than women to say she is doing a poor or somewhat poor job. Almost six in 10 men said Ms. Payette is doing a poor (34 per cent) or somewhat poor (25 per cent) job, compared with fewer than one in two women (29 per cent poor and 19 per cent somewhat poor).

Only 4 per cent said Ms. Payette is doing a good job, with 16 per cent saying she is doing a somewhat good job.

For his part, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to praise her work.

“We have an excellent Governor-General right now, and I think on top of the COVID crisis, nobody is looking at any constitutional crises,” Mr. Trudeau said in an interview Wednesday with Vancouver’s RED FM. “We have put in place a process to review some of the working conditions at Rideau Hall."

The review was first ordered in July after media reports detailed allegations about the Governor-General’s behaviour.

CBC News reported that sources said Ms. Payette had created a toxic environment at Rideau Hall by verbally harassing employees to the point where some have been reduced to tears or have left the office altogether.

At the time, the PCO said harassment has no place in any professional workplace and that it takes all allegations of harassment very seriously.

Ms. Payette said in a statement on July 23 that she was in full agreement and welcomed an independent review.

In the terms of reference, the PCO said the findings of the review will not be released publicly unless required to do so by law and that the information will be handled in accordance with the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

If allegations of harassment have been made, the PCO said the report needs to include a description of the nature of the incidents to determine if they meet the legal definition of harassment.

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