In wake of Julie Payette resignation as Canada's governor general, bring back Adrienne Clarkson!

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      Adrienne Clarkson has long been my favourite governor general of Canada, 

      During her six years in office until 2005, the former broadcaster brought real star power to the office.

      Not only did she focus a tremendous amount of attention on Northern Canada, she also championed Aboriginal peoples, arts and culture, and women's equality.

      She was also a beacon when it came to educating Canadians about the benefits of our diverse society. 

      Let's face it—Clarkson was the anti-Donald Trump more than a decade before Trump decided to seek the presidency.

      After leaving office, she created the Clarkson Cup for women hockey players.

      She's also written some very good books, including my favourite, Room for All of Us, which told stories of immigrants who've helped transform Canada for the better.

      And she advanced our understanding of not only the rights of citizenship, but also its responsibilities.

      That's not all. Clarkson was a role model for young Chinese Canadians. They could see someone who looked like themselves rise to a high position to call upon our better selves to improve the country. She inspired Canadians of Chinese ancestry and other minorities back then in the same way that Kamala Harris's rise is doing today for young Blacks and people of South Asian ancestry.

      Like Harris, Clarkson has lots of substance. I've sometimes wondered if Clarkson would have let former prime minister Stephen Harper get away with padlocking Parliament in 2008 had she been governor general then.

      I'm guessing she would have said "no", whereas her successor, Michaëlle Jean, said "yes", much to the detriment of Canadian democracy.

      Clarkson is approaching her 81st birthday, so she's probably not in the mood for another full term as Canada's GG.

      But I'm hoping that the prime minister will consider appointing her to fill this position on a temporary basis. That is, until a permanent replacement is found for Julie Payette, who resigned today in disgrace.

      Payette really had no choice after employees raised concerned about bullying.

      For now, Chief Justice Richard Wagner is fulfilling Payette's duties. But he already has a demanding and important full-time job.

      If UBC could bring back Martha Piper as its interim president to restore some lustre to the university after Arvind Gupta resigned in 2015, then Justin Trudeau can bring back Adrienne Clarkson. 

      It just might help people forget what a blunder he made by recommending Payette in the first place.

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