Appointment to the Order of Canada
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The Order of Canada is the highest civilian honor that can be presented by the Canadian Government. A living Canadian or foreign national can be appointed to membership in the Order. However, any Canadian that holding a political or judicial office is ineligible while in office. The nomination process may be started by anyone in Canada, but the Advisory Council of the Order of Canada and the Governor General of Canada make the final decision. Once an appointment is made, an official ceremony is held to present insignia and other devices to the appointee by the Governor General. A member of the Order can also be promoted to a higher rank if he or she has continued to provide service to Canada or to humanity at large after their appointment.
Eligibility
Paragraph nine of the Constitution of the Order of Canada lists the criteria for appointment to the Order. Any living Canadian citizen may be appointed to one of three grades of the Order: Member (lowest), Officer and Companion (highest). Section two of the same paragraph allows living non-Canadians to be appointed to the same ranks, but their membership is considered honorary. Members who are appointed to the Order's Advisory Council are not automatically made members of the Order. However, some of the members of the Advisory Council that already hold a rank in the Order of Canada. No Canadian holding any political or judicial office may be appointed to the Order while in office and no appointments can be made posthumously. [1] The Governor General may promote a member of the Order to a higher grade, if the member grants permission. Promotions are generally not performed until five years after a member's original appointment. In order to be considered for a promotion in the Order, the person must have demonstrated higher degrees of service to Canada and to humanity at large after their appointment. The Order also allows for multiple people to be appointed to the Order while performing the same act. The members of the Canadian band Rush: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart, were all appointed to the grade of Officer for raising "over a million dollars for charities such as food banks and the United Way. Their efforts have enhanced an awareness of the plight faced by society's less fortunate, inspiring and awakening the social consciousness of an entire generation. Musicians far and wide have been influenced by the band's accomplishments, a testament to their contribution to popular music." [2]
Nomination
The Chancellery of Honours at Rideau Hall, which administers the Canadian honours system, permits anyone to submit nominations to the Order any time of the year. A form is completed and sent to the Chancellery. The form needs to include notes on the candidate's life and accomplishments, the nominator's and the candidate's information, such as birth, citizenship, address, occupation, and also three people who would support the nomination. Once it is mailed to the Chancellery, the letter will be kept in a file and the nomination is not announced due to privacy of the nominee and the person who made the nomination.
Companion (C.C.)
To be considered for appointment for the grade of Companion, he or she must have made "outstanding achievement and merit of the highest degree, especially in service to Canada or to humanity at large." [3] The Order Constitution dictates that three people are automatically made Companions to the Order: the Governor General, their spouse and the the Monarch of Canada.
The Governor General and their spouse will each continue to be Compaions of the Order until they pass away. If the maximum number of 165 Companions has been reached, no more appointments can be made until a vacancy occurs. A vacancy can occur due to death or resignation of the Companion or that the grade was revoked from them. Up to 15 people can be either appointed to the grade directly or promoted from the grade of Officer to Companion. However, the four honoary Companions living today do not count towards the 165 total.
Officer (O.C.)
A person can be appointed to the rank of Officer for "achievement and merit of a high degree, especially service to Canada or to humanity at large." Unlike the rank of Companion, there is no limit on how many Officers can be living at one time. The Governor General can appoint up to sixty-four Officers per year, excluding honorary appointments. A person can become an Officer by being promoted from the grade of Member or being appointed directly to the grade.
Member (C.M.)
A person can be appointed to the grade of Member for "distinguished service in or to a particular community, group or field of activity." There is no limit to how many Members can be living at one time. The Governor General can appoint up to 136 Members per year.
Honorary
A non-Canadian can be considered for membership in all three grades. However, the Governor General can only make five of these appointments per year. Honorary members are allowed to use post-nominal letters and wearing the insignia in public.
Appointment
Once the nomination has been received by the Chancellery of Honours, it will be evaluated by the Advisory Council of the Order of Canada, chaired by the Chief Justice of Canada. Other government officials on the Advisory Council are Clerk of the Privy Council, the Deputy Minister of the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Chairperson of the Canada Council for the Arts, the President of the Royal Society of Canada, and the Chairperson of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. The rest of the seats are filled by recipients of the Order. If a foreign national is being evaluated for membership in the Order, the Deputy Minister of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade will also evaluate the nomination. [4] The members of the Council evaluate and vote on each nomination at their meetings. At the end of each meeting, their recommendations will be sent to the Governor General. The Governor General will follow the recommendations and will sign an Ordinance appointing the members to the Order and published in the Canada Gazette. Announcements of appointments occur twice a year, usually around New Year's Day (January 1) and on Canada Day (July 1).
Investure
After the announcement of an appointment, an induction ceremony, called investure, will take place at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. On rare occasions, the Queen of Canada will preside over the ceremony if she is in the country. At the investure, the Governor General will make remarks and then will present the "distinctive snowflake" insignia to each member.
Investures can take place in locations other than Ottawa due to the appointees not being able to make it there. One such example occurred in 2003 with singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. In 2002, shortly before a concert, Lightfoot suffered a serious abdominal hemorrhage, which resulted in Lightfoot to be in a coma for a time and months recovering in a hospital. On the news of his near-death condition, Lightfoot was promoted to the grade of Companion. Since his condition left him unable to travel, Adrienne Clarkson flew to Toronto and presented him with the insignia in a private ceremony performed in his hospital room. [5] [6]
Another example is the investure of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother in 2000. At the age of 100, she was invested as a Companion at Clarence House in London. Rather than place the insignia on the Queen Mother, who was recovering from a hip replacement, Clarkson handed the her the medallion. She made a point of wearing it around her neck at a special lunch following the private ceremony.
Investures can also be delayed, such as in the case of hockey great Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky was appointed to the grade of Officer in 1984 for his outstanding contributions to the game. However, the ceremonies always conflicted with his hockey schedule. It took Gretzky 13 years, 7 months and two governor generals before Gretzky could accept the honor. [7]
References
- ^ http://www.gg.ca/honours/oc-info_e.asp Governor General's Order of Canada Information Page
- ^ http://www.gg.ca/Search/honours_descript_e.asp?type=2&id=3594 Rush's Order citation
- ^ http://www.gg.ca/honours/oc-con_e.asp Order of Canada Constitution (en)
- ^ http://www.gg.ca/honours/oc-con_e.asp Order of Canada Constitution (en)
- ^ http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/12/13/canada/lightfoot_031213 CBC story on Lightfoot's C.C. presentation.
- ^ http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=4090. Gordon Lightfoot's C.C. Citation.
- ^ http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=281 Wayne Gretzky's investure notice