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Former Astronaut Julie Payette To Be Canada's Next Governor General (www.cbc.ca)
MightyMartian shares a report from CBC.ca: Former astronaut Julie Payette will be the Queen's new representative in Canada, CBC News has confirmed. The 53-year-old Montrealer, who speaks six languages, will be named the 29th governor general, a position that comes with a $290,660 annual salary and an official residence at Rideau Hall. Payette, who is also an accomplished athlete, pianist and choral singer, will succeed outgoing Gov. Gen. David Johnston. A computer engineer with a commercial pilot license, Payette was picked from among 5,330 applicants in 1992 to be one of four new astronauts with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). She participated in two space flights to the International Space Station and served as the CSA's chief astronaut between 2000 and 2007.
MightyMartian adds: "I defy anyone else to find a head of state who is an astronaut!"
MightyMartian adds: "I defy anyone else to find a head of state who is an astronaut!"
That must be nice.
is not "a head of state"
i can use maple syrup for lube and no one cares. in fact, when it happens my neighbors bring tim hortons.
Good point!
Let's call them thermosnaut!
Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
Julie Payette is a high-quality person and I applaud her transparency. ;)
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
Good point, only the President of Mars deserves to be called an Astronaut, because he's been to another planet. He also won with 200% of the vote, since he named himself twice, as he was following the Electoral College rules in their original form.
Used to be space held promise. Then reality kicked in like a bronco at the rodeo. Space is a dead end for people. It's only good for satellites, and sending boxes with wheels, or boxes with cameras to or around other planets.
There is no future in space. It's dead, finished.
"Astronaut" is a ceremonial job, like historical re-enactments. They are passengers, cargo, on a pre-determined script. They're just really dedicated roller coaster enthusiasts.
Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state, not her Governor General
Be relentless!
[citation needed]
By that measure there goes Alan Shepard and Scott Carpenter. Also, by all means, please also inform the surviving family and heirs of Gus Grissom that he wasn't an astronaut after all when he was killed in the Apollo 1 fire. Also you may need to set Congress straight on that too, since they seem to have mistakenly awarded him the Congressional Space Medal of Honour.
YOU == MISOGYNISTIC ASSHOLE MOTHERFUCKER
Fuck you and the dumbfuck lameness filter on this garbage ass site.
FUCK YOU!
Whatever. How big are her jugs?
Canada has... different priorities. ;)
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
Sorry buddy, you are too late. She used to be DD in high school when I was dating her but she had most of it surgically removed to make the space program.
Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
Does that count?
Given THAT criteria, the ONLY "astronauts" who have "been outside the atmosphere" were the Apollo crews..
THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
Then talk about it and don't simply say so. Also, does she program with QB64? Inquiring minds want to know!
That's right. Now you understand why there can't be any actual science fiction again for awhile. Everything is just too solvable.
The Queens representative in our western most province just made a decision on who should be able to form the government there. There was also the case a few years back where our minister of defense admitted to a war crime* in the in the house of commons and the prime minister asked the Governor General to prorogued parliament so that the senate inquiry into his actions would die (er so we could watch the winter Olympics, I think was the prime ministers excuse). I think the Governor General got that one wrong but at least we have a mechanism to solve parliamentary issues that only takes a single day. Having the government paralyzed for weeks waiting for a decision is worse.
*Canadian soldiers had handed over prisoners of war to American and Afghan forces without getting guarantees that they would not be miss treated. It' not just that they were subsequently mistreated it's the fact that we didn't take reasonable steps to ensure they were not that is a crime.
My congratulations to Julie Payette on her appointment to her new post. Bear in mind she isn't the first Canadian astronaut to assume a role as a senior government official, either.
Since 2015, former astronaut Marc Garneau has served as the federal Minister of Transportation--which seems just a little bit on the nose.
(That compares rather favorably, incidentally, to the 1995 appointment of Al Palladini - a used-car salesman - to serve as Ontario's Minister of Transportation...)
~Idarubicin
She was director at the National Bank of Canada.
Well may we say God Save the Queen (pause) because nothing will save the Governor-General...
Anyone from a constitutional monarchy with QE2 knows damn well that her Majesty's representativies, the governors general, are not the Heads Of State.
Really. What has happened to Slashdot??
What exceptional talents or skills merit this adoration? They are ballast strapped to a seat in a rocket. If we are celebrating their "bravery" then shouldn't we instead honor the bravery of the first ones to go into space and prove it was safe: the dogs and monkeys with "the right stuff"?
Obviously the real accomplishment is due to the engineers who made it happen and sweated out every detail in design and test and every second in mission control. These people remain largely unknown. Instead society rewards busy body attention seekers who contribute little or nothing to the mission. This government sinecure sounds like a perfect fit for an astronaut: an important sounding administrative title and the chance to bask in the glory of other people's work.
Disclaimer: The preceding rant excludes astronauts with real science and engineering pedigrees who contribute real science and engineering work during and after their time in the space can.
Not strictly true even there. Apollo 7, the first (successful) Manned Apollo Mission, was LEO. Apollo 9 was LEO as well.
Apollo 8 was the first time Man went actually "outside the atmosphere" and circled the Moon.
So of the 17 Apollo Missions, 12 Astronauts of 6 Missions walked on the Moon and 27 Astronauts of 9 Missions circled it. Note that there are overlaps here and with with the 2 LEO Apollo Missions as well.
So a total of 24 Astronauts have gone beyond LEO.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Apollo_astronauts
Of those 24, Schmitt and Swigert won seats in Congress as Republicans, but Swigert died before taking office.
> Former astronaut Julie Payette will be the Queen's new representative in Canada, CBC News has confirmed.
Wow. An astronaut
> The 53-year-old Montrealer, who speaks six languages,
Six? She has some smarts on top of the astronaut
> Payette, who is also an accomplished athlete, pianist and choral singer
What? No. Now this isn't fair. I guess, if I work a bit harder I could...ok, a LOT harder, I could,....
> A computer engineer with a commercial pilot license,
No. No no no no no.
She makes me look like I didn't even try at life.
Recycle PCs and build a wireless community network www.hillsborough.org.nz
Answering yourself compulsively is a sign of encroaching autism. Seek help before you get any worse.
I, for one, welcome our new celestial Overlord^H^H^H^Hlady. Someone that isn't there as a token female, but someone that has actually done something and every Canadian can be proud to call their Governor General. Hopefully that spirit of accomplishment inclusion will remain, the opposite of an 'activist' type person that does what they do for a club they themselves are a member of.
When the copyright term is "forever minus a day", live every day like it's the last.
[citation needed]
Spot on. As a friend of mine said after the news of her nomination came out.
"She spent most of her life time trying to convince us astronauts are useful. She will be perfect as governor general."
Achille Talon
Hop!
If you can't understand that I was replying to the person modding me down, you're past "encroaching" autism, you've reached Asperger Heaven.
It's obvious from context alone.
fuck the fucking queen if we are paying this from taxes.
fucking rediculous, if she wants a representative she should fucking pay for it...
Since Trudeau is a space cadet.
Good thing that the G-G in Canada basically is a figurehead and doesn't have much power.
""I defy anyone else to find a head of state who is an astronaut!"
probably already been said, but Trump's a fucking space cadet if ever there was one.
It's always funny to read Americans stumbling over a parliamentary system description and thinking it overcomplicated and bizarre (and that QE2 is still, really, in charge).
There's a reason your system hasn't caught on anywhere in 230 years; a reason nearly everwhere else is some sort of parliament.
Yours makes your elected Head-of-State an elected King by our lights; Commander-in-Chief and repository of all national glory and honour. I wouldn't use the word "Warlord" but I note that the terrorist-fighting action-hero of "Air Force One" was named "President James Marshall". (Distributing Martial Law to the evil-doers, clearly).
It makes your Presidents want to look more Presidential by hitting people. Except with bombs.
By moving all the colourful honours and glory and ceremony related to the *nation* onto a ceremonial queen, we deprive our politicians of wrapping themselves in the national symbols to puff themselves up; by moving the commander-in-chief role away from the Prime Minister, we take away much of his action-figure status; most PMs can't get a military adventure going without the approval of at least several members of his cabinet, who are also (unlike your system) legitimate replacements for him that could be doing his job tomorrow if that cabinet thinks the PM has lost it.
It's too late for you guys to switch to Parliamentary, but we sure do thank you for highlighting its virtues for us with your brave experiment. Your written Constitution, alas, protected no torture victims, nor did all your three-sided checks and balances.
And then the most recent Presidential situation! My god, how we pity you. A massive systemic failure. We'll keep our system, which you are welcome to make all the fun of that you want. We don't need to make fun of the system that elected a leader who spoke of "Prime Minister Shinzo" and "Two Corinthians". Some jokes can't be improved upon.
I'm not here to disparage the person's achievements.
I'm here to be sad about the term "astronaut" being watered down to include people who haven't even left the atmosphere. The ISS is only 400 km up, still well within the thermosphere.
We used to send people to space!
"Watered down?" Since when? Are you familiar with the Kármán Line? Not to mention any alternative definitions of the lower boundary of space are well below 200km (above sea level). I think you're just imposing your own personal opinion onto what qualifies as "space," as opposed to what the aeronautics/astronautics societies have established as "space."
Maybe the US of A could stop electing lawyers and billionaires to high office and look to engineers and scientists instead. Nah, what am I thinking - it'll never work because they typically have principles and core honesty.
Exactly. NOw, if only Canada would get away from the 'Monarch by divine right' mentality that connects this appointment to the King/Queen of England this position wouldn't even be needed. If Canadian's below a 'world ambassador' is a nice thing to have (from a 'marketing' perspective) than fine & dandy. But paying someone significant dollars & providing a budget that is significant (in the Millions) whose only 'legal' job is to pro-forma sign laws passed by Parliament as the 'representation of the Monarch of England' is just a waste of money.
Look on wikipedia, the citation is there.
Not sure why being a director, which is a part time 'job' for only a small stipend, makes her corrupt.
The nation needs a head of state, all nations do. Take the 'titular'[ head of state away, and you then need to create a president position.
There's more to the job than what you describe however.
The Head Of State is a symbolic position only, it signifies the Nation of Canada. Queen Elizabeth II has moral and symbolic power but cannot rule Canadians.
All hard power flows up through elected representatives, ultimately to the Prime Minister of Canada. The Queen is not an "even higher authority figure" than the PM, she is off to the side. It is not even considered acceptable for the Queen to offer unsolicited advice. The matter is sensitive enough that even advice that was asked for, would probably be gently deflected by the Queen or her Ministers.
This is a common mistake for Americans to make. Are you American? They get confused because the US President is both a practical administrator as well as a symbol of the nation. The unitary nature of the US system is simply different, but Americans can be forgiven for thinking every nation organizes itself this way.
Now, the Governor General has some power, though it must be used very carefully and sparingly. All legislation that the House of Commons passes, must be signed by the GG. This is a rubber stamp process and it is almost unheard of for the GG to even mention not doing so. The GG also, when an election produces an unclear result, acts as an authority figure to get a party to become the governing party. The GG can invite a party to form a coalition government, for instance.
Well if the GG has some power, and the GG is the Queen's Representative, does not the Queen have power too? No. The GG is appointed by the Prime Minister and owes allegiance to Canada. There is a notional idea of "honoring" the Queen, and official communications from Canada to the Queen goes through the GG as a matter of protocol. It helps to be a Monarchist, sitting as the GG. However if a conflict of loyalties were to arise, the GG must represent the interests of Canada first (I believe actual protocol would require the GG to resign as the conflict of loyalties would put the GG into an impossible situation).