Trailblazing former astronaut will be Canada’s next governor general

She has travelled more than 15 million of kilometers through, speaks six languages, served as scientific advisor in Washington, and now Julie Payette is slated to become Canada’s de facto head of state.

Payette will be formally appointed the next governor general at a ceremony in Ottawa on Thursday morning, reported CBC News and other outlets on Wednesday evening.

Payette spent seven years as Canada’s chief astronaut, with stints within NASA as well. She’s flown two missions to the International Space Station — one in 1999, and the second in 2009. More recently, she served as Quebec’s chief science advisor in Washington, D.C. and returned to Montreal to run the Montreal Science Centre.

As an experienced system engineer, Payette was tasked with operating the advanced mechanical arms for the space station, including the Canadarm and Canadarm2. Her Canadian Space Agency says that the native French speaker, beyond English, can also speak Spanish, Italian, Russian and German.

Payette was pretty modest about her trip, telling Maclean’s in 2015: “I always call myself a space construction worker.”

When CBC News asked Payette about her new gig outside of an Ottawa hotel, she played bashful: “Oh my goodness, you know a lot more than I do.”

In the week leading up to the announcement, many — including voices within Trudeau’s own party — called on the prime minister to tap an Indigenous candidate for the post. “It would be a real act of reconciliation with the highest levels,” Liberal Member of Parliament Dan Vandal told the Hill Times.

Payette’s appointment follows the convention of alternating between Quebec and rest of Canada for the role.

As the British crown’s formal representative in Canada, Payette will be tasked with giving a customary sign-off on all legislation, approving the prime minister’s request for elections, and inviting parties to form government in case of unclear election results. She’ll also read the prime minister’s throne speech — which lays out his agenda for the parliamentary session. It is expected the prime minister could deliver such a speech in September.

The job has been more customary and symbolic than functionary in recent decades, but can nevertheless be crucial in breaking democratic deadlocks.

The Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia — the provincial equivalent of the governor general — just last week opted to invite the B.C. New Democratic Party, which came second in the most recent provincial election, to form government with the support of the Green Party, after the first-place Liberals found themselves unable to find support in the divided legislature.

For the most part, however, the governor general receives foreign dignitaries in Canada and heads on diplomatic missions abroad.

The current governor general, David Johnston, is currently on a state visit to China, where he is playing up education ties between the two countries.