Advisory council could strip Julie Payette of her Order of Canada

As governor general,Julie Payettepresented one ofthe country'smost prestigious civilian honourstohundreds of accomplishedCanadians.Now, an advisory council is thinking abouttakingher own Order of Canada away.

CBC News has learned the 11-member Advisory Council for the Order of Canada, chaired by Chief Justice Richard Wagner who took over the governor general'sduties for six months after Payette stepped down is considering whether to terminate Payette's appointment to the Order of Canada.

Only seven people have ever been expelledfrom theOrder of Canada in its more than 50-year history and no one has ever been dropped from the orderdue to allegations of harassment says Rideau Hall.

"Never has a Governor General been stripped of an honour. It's as simple as that," said Michael Jackson, president of the Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada at Massey College in Toronto. "There is a long processand dueprocess has to take place.If it happens, it will be absolutely unprecedented."

Rideau Hall received a request to revoke Payette's Order of Canadafrom a member of the public shortly after Payette's resignation six months ago. The complaintcame afteran external reviewfound Payettehadpresided over a "toxic" and "poisonous" workplace that drove many employees to quit Rideau Hallor go on sick leave.

Rideau Hall:'...the process is following its due course'

Vancouver welder and public sector employee Giovanni Cormano told CBC News he filed therequest to dropPayettefrom the Order of Canada. In his letter to Rideau Hall, he wrote that"Julie Payette has undermined the Order of Canada and what it stands for."

"For her to retain this honour would tarnish the achievements of Tommy Douglas, Margaret Atwood, Terry Fox, Kim Campbell, Leonard Cohen and Rick Hansen, to name a few,"Cormano wrote in hisletter dated Jan. 31,obtained by CBC News.

Cormano hasn'tworked for Payettebut argued in his letterthather alleged pattern ofmistreatingstaff at Rideau Hall, the Montreal Science Centreand theCanadian Olympic Committeeunderminesthe credibility of the honour.

Citing confidentiality rules, Rideau Hall won't say if it's received other formal requests to eject Payette from the Order of Canada.

According to the regulations, the Order of Canada is a gift ofthe Crown andcan be revoked if an individualis convicted of a criminal offence or engages in conduct that "constitutes a significant departure from generally-recognized standards of public behaviour which is seen to undermine the credibility, integrity or relevance of the order, or detracts from the original grounds upon which the appointment was based."

Any Canadiancan file a request to drop someone fromthe Order of Canada. If the deputy secretary of honours at Rideau Hall concludesthat there may be reasonable grounds for revoking the honour, the complaint is sent to the advisory council, which makes arecommendation to the Governor General. Theprocess can take more than a year.

The Governor General's office told Cormanoit's taking his request seriously, according to an email viewed by CBC News.

"The reputation of the Canadian Honours System is at the heart of our mandate,"retired Brig.-Gen.Marc Thriault,deputy secretary of honours, said in an email to Cormano on June 4.

"I confirm that the process is following its due course...The review of your request may take several months to be completed ...you will be advised in writing should your request be rejected at any stage of the procedure."

Julie Payette was named an Officer of theOrder of Canada in 2010 for being a "source of inspiration and remarkable international ambassadorfor Canadian engineering," according to Rideau Hall's website. As an astronaut, Payette logged over 611 hours in space andwas the first Canadian to board the International Space Station.

In 2017, the QueennamedPayette an Extraordinary Companion of the Order of Canada to recognize her appointment as governor general.

The Queen released Payette from her viceregal role on Jan. 22in response toa request from Prime Minister JustinTrudeau.

When asked for comment on the request to drop her from the Order of Canada, a spokesperson forPayettedeclined to comment.

"Right now, her focus is on personal issues and applauding Canada's athletes at the Tokyo Olympics," wrote Lise Boyer, an agent at JP Communications."Mary Simon's appointment as GG should also rightfully be at the forefront of public attention and Madame Payette has no wish to disrupt that."

A 'vindictive' form of payback?

Some constitutional experts argue that revoking Payette'sOrder of Canada would amount tooverkill.

Barbara Messamore, who has criticizedPayette's alleged mistreatment of staff, said it's "undeniable" Payette has"already paid a high price."She acknowledged somemight disagree, sincePayetteisreceiving an estimated $149,484 annuity per year for life after leaving office.

"Her reputation really suffered," said Messamore, a fellow and vice-president of the Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada. "I don't think we need to take the next step of being vindictive, of pursuing every possible way in which we can punish her for her conduct."

She saidPayette still deserves recognition forher work as an astronaut.

Carleton University'sPhilippe Lagass, who studies theWestminster system at Carleton University, said taking back Payette'sOrder of Canada would be"excessive."

"She wasn't dismissed," hesaid."She did bow out of the position. She agreed to resign in the face of workplace harassment allegations. She had to deal with the consequences of that already."

Lagasssaid the allegations against Payette have not been proven in a court of law. The external review attempted not to make findings of factbutrather to determine the scope of the problem.

Termination process confidential, says Rideau Hall

Rideau Hall would not offercomment on this case to CBC News,stating thetermination process is confidential.

Rideau Hall spokesperson Lynne Santerresaidin a mediastatement that theadvisory council'sdecisions are based onevidence that "can include, but is not limited to, criminal conviction or sanction by a professional body."

"The termination of any honour is an extraordinary measure which serves to protect the credibility of the Canadian honours system," shewrote.

Some Order of Canada recipients have been stripped of the honour due tocriminal convictions which have includedfraud, assault with a weaponand obstruction of justice according to Christopher McCreery's bookThe Order of Canada. Other appointments were terminated over professional misconduct, such as making anti-Semiticcomments or being disbarred from practising law, he wrote.

"There has been an unwillingness to strip honours from those who have suffered personally or who have made such significant contributions that their crimes are minor in comparison," wrote McCreery.

If the advisory council decidesthere mightbe reasonable grounds for termination, Payette would be notified and given a chance to provide a written response.

If the case makes it to the end of the lengthy process, the council would make a recommendation to Gov.Gen.Mary Simon on whetherto terminatePayette's appointment to the Order.

Simon is already familiar with the revocation process. She sat on the advisory council in 2014 the year it recommended the expulsion of former media baron Conrad Black from the Order of Canada.

Black had beenconvicted of fraud and obstruction of justice in the United States seven years prior. McCreery wrote thatthe advisory council waited until Black had exhausted hisappeal options.