OTTAWA — Here are five things about Julie Payette, Canada’s Governor General designate.
1. Payette — the second Canadian woman to fly into space after Roberta Bondar — was aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1999 and Endeavour in 2009. She was the first Canadian astronaut to board the International Space Station.
2. Born Oct. 20, 1963 in Montreal, Payette is fluent in French and English and can converse in Spanish, Italian, Russian and German.
3. Payette enjoys running, skiing, racquet sports and scuba diving and is a member of the board of Canada’s “Own The Podium” Olympic program.
4. Carried the Olympic flag in the Opening Ceremonies at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada that same year.
5. Payette plays the piano and has sung with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Piacere Vocale in Basel, Switzerland, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in Toronto.