Canada is full of surprises, and Lloyd Alter on Treehugger.com gets me informed:
Justin Trudeau may be Prime Minister of Canada and run the country, but under the parliamentary system the country inherited from Great Britain, the Queen is the head of state and the Governor General is her representative, her boots on the ground. And as of September, those boots will be filled by Julie Payette.
Well. So the Governor General is the real power, although probably not exercised frequently. And then about Payette:
Julie Payette wanted to be an astronaut when there were no women in the corps, so she studied engineering and then got a Masters in computer engineering. She was one of four Canadian astronauts chosen among 5,330 applicants in 1992, and went into space twice.
Oh, she is also an accomplished musician who plays the piano and has sung with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. She speaks six languages and is a terrific athlete, and has 27 honorary degrees. She has 1300 hours of flight time, has 311 hours in space and is a deep-sea diving suit operator.
I feel … inadequate.
