Proper t’ing, b’y! It’s time we abolish the costly, meaningless office of the governor general. Julie Payette was in office for a little better than three years. The total cost of operating her office during this period was in excess of $120 million. In addition, her salary exceeded $280,000 annually and she will get a pension for life — regardless of the number of years served — of nearly $150,000 per year.
The truth is that the position is meaningless, irrelevant, filled with pomp and ceremony. Nothing of substance, yet there is talk about how to reform and modernize the office and who will replace her. Surely the real question should be why Canada needs a governor general. Why do we continue to have a foreign monarch as our head of state? Payette’s resignation offers us the opportunity to consider leaving our colonial past behind.
What does it say about our national pride if we reform this expensive relic of our colonial ties to Britain?
Colin Haynes,
St. John’s
