How long do we have to keep spending millions of dollars to enable a series of pompous, appointed ribbon cutters to shamelessly waste our tax dollars on frivolous luxuries?.When will we put our foot down and defund the outdated and almost insulting institution of the Governor General?.Governor General Julie Payette resigned in disgrace a little over a year ago after a tumultuous three and a half years as Governor General. Payette’s term was marked by entitlement, extravagant waste, staff abuse and even laziness..Payette caused issues early in her role when she whined about having to move her schedule in June of 2018 in order to sign a bill into law. Signing bills into law is literally her most important role but she didn’t like troubling herself with it. Payette liked the attention she garnered as Governor General but chafed under the actual tasks and was engaged in constant battles with the government as she tried to reduce her workload..Payette did enjoy taking part in design and renovations at her small palace of Rideau Hall though as she blew $140,000 tax dollars to study having a new staircase built. You see, she wanted a private staircase created for herself so she could navigate her free accommodations without having to come into contact with any of the unwashed who may be touring the building..The final straw when it came for Payette was when it was exposed how she had been chronically abusive with her staff and that working on her entourage was proving to be one of the most toxic jobs to be had in Ottawa..Payette is far from being the first or only wasteful, arrogant Governor General. The history of taxpayer waste by Governor Generals is long and ugly..Former CBC personality Adrienne Clarkson was notorious for her high spending during her term on the Governor General's throne. On a single tour of Arctic nations, Clarkson blew $5 million tax dollars. Not a huge dent in her nearly $20 million annual budget at the time though..Clarkson billed $100,000 per year for office expenses every year since leaving her posting soaking taxpayers for over a million dollars since she retired. That is on top of her massive pension of course..Every Governor General gets a tax funded expense account for life. They also get to bill taxpayers for an additional six months after they die! They literally get to continue robbing us from the grave..Not that they should need it. They are paid almost $300,000 per year while in office and have every expense from housing to clothing to travel covered the taxpayers. Their salary pretty much goes right into the bank..Justin Trudeau appointed Mary Simon to the role of governor general almost a year ago and it appears she has embraced the role of largesse, waste and entitlement quickly..On a trip to the Middle East last March, Simon and her entourage managed to wrack up a $93,000 bill just for catering on the military jet she used for the trip. Simon's office is now claiming it was only $83,000 though its tough to believe a story that keeps changing. While I can understand how the governor general needn’t suffer through a long flight with little more than a tiny bag of roasted peanuts to sustain herself as commoners do, I would think she could have fed her entourage at less than $3,000 per head. Were they bathing in 25 year old single malt scotch while binging and purging on caviar? How on earth could they consume so much? .Technically the Governor General is Canada’s head of state. The most powerful person in the country. No legislation can pass without approval of the Queen’s representative..In reality, the role is only ceremonial. If a Governor General actually refused to sign a bill into law, it would be the day we start working towards becoming a republic rather than a constitutional monarchy. Perhaps that would be a good thing but it won’t happen any time soon..We currently have a woke federal government that panders to extreme activists who refer to Canadians as settlers and demand decolonization whatever that means. Ironically, the greatest symbol we have of colonialism and settlement is the office of the Governor General. It indicates we are still beholden and subservient to a foreign power..It would take a complete constitutional revamping to get rid of the office of the Governor General and I don’t see that happening..We can cut the budget to the bone though..Would it be impossible to find a person to sit in the role of handshakes and ceremonies for a salary of $200,000 or so? I suspect we would still find many applicants..Do we need to give them a budget of over $20 million per year in order to travel the world? Do they even need to travel the world? I bet nobody outside of Canada's borders can name the Governor General nor cares who it is. Do they need a veritable army of staff and attendants?.We can maintain the role respectfully while cutting it down to a shadow of what it has become. A Governor General with a modest budget and attention may be able to remain humble rather than considering themselves as royalty..It's a slap in the face for Canadians struggling to pay the bills to watch a member of appointed royalty globetrotting while feeding her friends $3,000 meals on the taxpayer's dime..If we want to indulge the defund movement, let’s start at the top..Defund the Governor General.
