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Removal from the Order of Canada

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Recipients of the Order of Canada can have their honour revoked if the Order's Advisory Council feels that a recipient's actions have brought the Order into disrepute. As of 2005, only two people have had their membership in the Order of Canada stripped from them: Alan Eagleson and David Ahenakew. Eagleson was removed from the Order after being jailed for fraud in 1998 [1]. Ahenakew was removed in 2005 after being convicted of promoting hatred by saying things that were deemed anti-Semitic in 2002. [2] The formal removal process is performed by the Advisory Council of the Order of Canada, though various groups have called for recipients of the Order to be removed for various offences.

Policy

Paragraph 25, section C of the Constitution of the Order of Canada allows the Governor General of Canada to remove a person from the Order of Canada by issuing a special notice, called an ordinance. The Advisory Council of the Order of Canada, which is the body that determines on who may be allowed into the Order, makes a decision on a member should be removed from the Order. The Council makes this decision based on "evidence and guided by the principle of fairness and shall only be made after the Council has ascertained the relevant facts relating to the case under consideration." [3] For the Council to even take action, the member must have committed one of the following acts: if the person was convicted with a criminal offense or the conduct of the person has brought the Order into dishonour. The personal conduct can be either the person "constitutes a significant departure from generally-recognized standards of public behaviour which is seen to undermine the credibility, integrity or relevance of the Order, or detracts from the original grounds upon which the appointment was based or been the subject of an official sanction by an adjudicating body, professional association or other organization. The official sactions can include fines, reprimands, or in the case of Eagleson, disbarment. However, the only penalty the Advisory Council can offer or level is removal from the Order.

Procedure

The removal process begins by either a written petition by a Canadian to the Deputy Secretary of The Chancellery or by the own accord of the Deputy Secretary of The Chancellery. If the petition was started by a citizen, the claim could be judged as valid or invalid. If it is invalid, the Deputy Secretary will consult with the Secretary General of the Order, who then will reply to the petitioner to explain their decision. If it is deemed to be valid, it will be forwarded to the Advisory Council by the Secretary General.

The Advisory Council will receive this request and can either let the process continue forward or will ask for it to stop. If it does stop, the Secretary General will notify the petitioner to that effect. If the Council sees reasonable grounds for the process to continue, the person who was subject of the petition will go through the remainder of the removal process.

The Secretary General will send a letter, by registered post, to the person subject of the petition that there were allegations filled against them and their status in the Order of Canada is under consideration by the Advisory Council. Also stated in this letter is the option to respond to the notice by either resigning their membership in the Order or to challenge the allegations. However, the person must respond in a deadline set by the Secretary General.

If the person decides to leave the Order on their own, they will notify the Secretary General of the decision and the process ends there. Once the letter has been accepted by the Governor General, the person must return all Order insignia to the Secretary General of the Order and their name will be removed from all records held by the Chancellery. If the person contests to the allegations, the person or their authorized representative will respond to the allegations within the time limit set in the letter. If the person does or does not respond, the process will be handed back to the Advisory Council for futher consideration. Once the Advisory Council has made their decision, a report is sent to the Governor General explaining their findings and recommends on wether or not a person will remain in the Order. The Governor General, following the recommendation of the Advisory Council, will either notify the person that they remain in the Order in good standing or issue an ordinance terminating a person's membership in the Order. Once the ordinance has been published, the person must return all Order insignia to the Secretary General of the Order and their name will be removed from all records held by the Chancellery. The former member also loses the right to use their post-nominal letters in their names and loses the use of the Order motto, ribbon and medal on their personal coat of arms.

Alan Eagleson

Alan Eagleson was appointed to the rank of Officer of the Order of Canada April 20 1989. He was honoured for his work in promoting the sport of hockey. Eagleson, while head of the National Hockey League's Players Association, was accused of defruading players out of money. Other charges included racketeering, embezzlement and obstruction of justice, with 34 total charges in the United States and with 8 in Canada. [4] After pleading guilty, Eagleson was removed from the Order by Governor General Romeo LeBlanc in 1998, thus Eagleson became the first person to be removed by force. Eagleson had his licence to practice law revoked and voluntarily resigned from the Hockey Hall of Fame. [5]

David Ahenakew

Ahenakew was appointed as a Member in 1978. His citation read: "Member of a United Nations committee and of the World Indigenous Peoples Council. His many years of service to Indians and Métis in Saskatchewan culminated in his election as Chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indians, which has revolutionized Indian education in his province." [6] Ahenakew became under fire in 2002 after giving a speech, which the CBC considered profanity-laced. In this speech, Ahenakew called the Jewish people "a disease." [7] Ahenakew also made comments to a reporter from the Saskatoon StarPhoenix after the said speech a few days later in a taped interview: "That's how Hitler came in. That he was going to make damn sure that Jews weren't going to take over," and "That's why he fried six million of those guys." [8] After stating those comments, the Grand Chief of the Grand Council of Crees of Quebec, which was Ted Moses, called for Ahenakew to be removed from the Order. Several Jewish groups and figures in Canada echoed Moses's call for Ahenakew to be stripped of his honour.

In June of 2003, Ahenakew was formally charged by the Saskatchewan Justice Department with the charge of willingly promoting hatred. At this time, the process for removal was put on hold until the legal dispute is finished. [9] This was done, according to the author of the book The Order of Canada: Its Origins, History and Development, by Christopher McCreery, that the "Order's Advisory Council has traditionally steered clear of dealing with recipients who have run into public problems." [10] The decision about Ahenakew's Order was not made until a meeting of the Advisory Council was held on 29 June 2005. With nine members present (with one abstention, Beverley McLachlin, the Chief Justice of Canada), it took them 90 minutes to unaminously decide to remove Ahenakew from the Order. The Globe and Mail listed the following members of the Advisory Council that voted to remove Ahenakew: Tom Jackson, Karen Kain, Alex Himelfarb, Antonine Maillet, Ruth Goldbloom and Gilles Paquet. After the meeting, the Council sent Ahenakew a letter to ask him to respond to the removal or resign his membership. However, Ahenakew nor his lawyer, Doug Christie responded to the letter by the 9 July deadline. This lead Governor General Adrienne Clarkson to issue an ordinance on 11 July to official remove Ahenakew from the Order of Canada. Before the removal was ordered, Christy said to the Globe and Mail that, in his opinion, Ahenakew should still be able to hold onto his insignia. Christy said "I think that once you are given a gift, and it is a gift, I don't think anyone can ask for it back." McCreery stated that since the insignia that Ahenakew has must be surrended, as per Paragraph 23 of the Order Constitution: the insignia of the Order shall remain the property of the Order unless otherwise stated in an ordinance. Section two of the same paragraph states "Where a person who is a Companion, Officer or Member or an honorary Companion, Officer or Member, resigns from the Order or where a person's appointment to the Order is terminated by Ordinance, the person shall return the person's insignia to the Secretary General." McCreery said that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police can be sent to get the insignia by force, but he believes it will not come down to that. Ahenakew has came out and criticised the Jewish population, since he believes they are the group behind the effort to remove him from the Order. Ahenakew said at a news conference, held on 8 July (after his conviction) that his removal "was the direct result of the pressure put on the (Governor General's) advisory committee by some of the Jewish community, including a letter-writing campaign and the lobbying by the Canadian Jewish Congress," and "Accepting the Order of Canada comes with no injunction against free speech. I am now forced to choose between freedom of speech and the Order of Canada. I choose free speech." [11] McCerry rebutted Ahenakew by stating that Jewish groups were not the primary reason Ahenakew was removed from the Order. McCerry said that "Of course the main Jewish organizations were involved in this, but . . . it was Canadians in general that were outraged. So pointing the finger at the Canadian Jewish Congress or B'nai Brith is a bit of a red herring." A spokesperson from the Governor General, Lucie Brosseau, has not set a time table or procedure to get "his snowflake insignia back," but said to the Canadian Press that "Out of respect for Mr. Ahenakew we have to allow him to have time to read the letter, to react, to think and we will give him an appropriate amount of time." [12] Ahenakew has stated that he will not return his lapel pin, stated to the press that it will have to be removed from him. Ahenakew could be using the same tatic Eagleson used when he had to surrender his insignia. Eagleson kept his lapel pin for three weeks after his removal, but then returned it to the office of the Governor General.

Others facing removal calls

T. Alex Hickman, O.C.

A man by the name of Byron Prior began to ask for T. Alex Hickman, the former Justice Minister of Newfoundland, to be removed from the Order since his appointment in 2003. Prior claims that one of his sisters were raped by Hickman, [13] and also charges that Hickman is trying to cover up the incident. [14] The Chancellery of Honours, the section of Rideau Hall that is in charge of Canadian honours, replied to the petitioner and placed the letter in a file set up for Hickman. [15] Hickman was appointed to Officer for "Leadership, integrity and insight are hallmarks of Alexander Hickman's 50-year career as a lawyer, politician and judge. A renowned jurist, he is held in high esteem for his chairmanship of the Ocean Ranger and Donald Marshall Jr. inquiries. As Newfoundland's Justice minister, he introduced several major reforms, particularly in the areas of family law and the provincial court system. In addition, this retired chief justice of the trial division of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland is greatly respected for his contributions as a member of the Canadian Judicial Council and as a director with the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice." [16]

Notes

The Constitution for the Order of Canada also allows termination of membership in the Order is a member passes away or resigns voluntarily. [17] If a member dies, he or she can still use their post-nominal letters and their family can keep the insignia as family heirlooms. If a member resigns, he or she must return all insignia and lose the use of the Order motto, ribbon and medal on their personal coat of arms.

References

  1. ^ http://archives.cbc.ca/IDCC-1-41-1493-10073/sports/alan_eagleson/ CBC account on the rise and fall of Eagleson.
  2. ^ http://montreal.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=qc_mosesreax20021217 CBC article on Ahenakew's comments and reactions.
  3. ^ http://www.gg.ca/honours/oc-con_e.asp Paragraph 2 of the Policy and Procedure for Termination of Appointment to the Order Of Canada Policy.
  4. ^ http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/01-98/01-08-98/d06sp182.htm Listing of some of Eagleson's charges and legal issues.
  5. ^ http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-41-1493-10052/sports/alan_eagleson/clip9 CBC video of Eagleson leaving the Hockey Hall of Fame.
  6. ^ http://www.gg.ca/Search/honours_descript_e.asp?type=2&id=7 Ahenakew's citation (deleted after he was removed).
  7. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cpress/20050707/ca_pr_on_na/crime_ahenakew_hate_1 Canadian Press article on Ahenakew's possible removal from the Order
  8. ^ http://montreal.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=qc_mosesreax20021217 CBC article on his speech and his comments to the reporter
  9. ^ http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=597 8 May 2003 statement from the Advisory Council on Ahenakew's membership in the Order
  10. ^ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050713/AHENAKEW13/TPNational/Canada Globe and Mail's article on the process of removing Ahenakew from the Order.
  11. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cpress/20050711/ca_pr_on_na/ahenakew_hate_2
  12. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cpress/20050712/ca_pr_on_na/ahenakew_hate_1
  13. ^ http://www.gg.ca/honours/oc-con_e.asp Paragraph 25 (a) (b) of the Constitution of the Order of Canada.
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