Rideau Hall last year paid out more than $319,000 in settlements to four unidentified employees, records show..The payments followed then-Governor General Julie Payette’s abrupt resignation over allegations of workplace harassment..Public Accounts tabled in Parliament identified $319,154 in settlements approved by the Office of the Governor General’s Secretary as “payments of claims against the Crown.” Names of claimants were not disclosed..Payette resigned Jan. 21, 2021 along with Assunta di Lorenzo, her secretary. “Tensions have arisen at Rideau Hall over the past few months and for that I am sorry,” Payette said in a statement..“For the good of our country and of our democratic institutions I have come to the conclusion a new governor general should be appointed,” wrote Payette. “Canadians deserve stability in these uncertain times.”.According to Blacklock's Reporter, an investigation of harassment complaints cost $393,367. Legal fees paid to two firms, Caza Saikaley LLP of Ottawa and Blake, Cassels & Graydon of Toronto, cost another $249,627..An investigators’ report on workplace misconduct was never made public. A censored Final Review Report by Quintet Consulting Corp. of Ottawa found “participants described the general work environment as hostile or negative or used other words to that effect,” wrote investigators. “Twenty-six participants used the words ‘toxic’ or ‘poisoned’ to describe the general work atmosphere.”.“Reports included allegations of yelling, screaming, aggressive conduct, demeaning comments and public humiliation,” said Final Review. No examples were cited..“Eight participants used the expressions ‘climate or reign of fear or terror’ and 12 participants said they were ‘walking on eggshells’” at Rideau Hall, wrote investigators. Seventeen employees resigned due to the work environment, they said. Thirteen others claimed paid sick leave..Payette was paid $$289,000 a year with a $34.9 million office budget, free use of two manor homes in Ottawa and Québec City, a chauffeured car and Challenger jet. She remains entitled to a $143,000-a year pension and $206,040 in annual office expenses for life..The prime minister accepted Payette’s resignation without a customary expression of thanks for service. Every federal employee “has the right to work in a safe and healthy environment,” Trudeau said in a statement at the time..Payette served three years and three months of her five-year term. It was the shortest tenure of any governor general since 1872 when colonial appointee Lord Lisgar resigned due to poor health..Former governor Romeo LeBlanc retired in 1999 after four years due to Alzheimer’s disease. Appointee Jules Leger served his full term despite a 1974 stroke that forced him to seek therapy to regain his speech.
