Trudeau will announce new governor general this morning

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will announce his pick for Canada’s next governor general this morning, CBC News has learned.

Sources, who spoke confidentially because the announcement was not yet public, said the name will be unveiled at a news conference at 10 a.m. ET at the Canadian Museum of History.

Trudeau will make his recommendation to the Queen, who officially appoints the governor general in Canada.

Julie Payette resigned from the post more than five months ago, after a scathing external review found she had presided over a “toxic” and “poisoned” workplace at Rideau Hall, with episodes of “yelling, screaming, aggressive conduct, demeaning comments and public humiliations.”

The third-party review gathered testimony from more than 90 people and was triggered by a CBC News story about alleged mistreatment by Payette and her second-in-command, who also later resigned. Payette has said she takes workplace harassment seriously.

Since then, Supreme Court Justice Richard Wagner has been juggling his top court duties with serving as acting governor general.

While largely a ceremonial role, the governor general also serves as commander-in-chief of the Canadian Armed Forces and represents Canada at events, ceremonies and official visits at home and abroad.

One of the governor general’s most important responsibilities is to ensure that Canada always has a prime minister and a stable government in place that has the confidence of a functioning Parliament.

Other duties include:

After facing heavy criticism he didn’t properly vet Payette, the prime minister launched a new advisory board  — chaired by Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc and the country’s top bureaucrat, interim Clerk of the Privy Council Janice Charette — to find the next viceregal this time around.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to announce his selection for the next governor general of Canada today, after Julie Payette resigned from the role in a cloud of controversy on Jan. 21. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

The board drafted a short list of candidates for Trudeau to consider.

Opposition parties had questioned Trudeau’s decision to not use former prime minister Stephen Harper’s advisory committee process to suggest suitable candidates and suggested Trudeau got swept up in the celebrity status of Payette, a former astronaut.