Removal from the Order of Canada

Nine people have been removed from the Order of Canada: Alan Eagleson, David Ahenakew, T. Sher Singh, Steve Fonyo, Garth Drabinsky, Conrad Black, Ranjit Chandra, Johnny Issaluk and Buffy Sainte-Marie.

This decision is 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.

[10] A member of the order can be removed if they have been subjected to an official sanction by an adjudicating body, professional association, or other organization.

[10] The secretary general will send a registered letter to the removal-nominee that allegations were filed against them and their status in the Order of Canada is under consideration by the advisory council.

Once the advisory council has made their decision, they will send a report to the governor general explaining their findings and their recommendations.

[8] Alan Eagleson was appointed to the rank of Officer of the Order of Canada April 20, 1989, for his work to promote ice hockey.

[13] In February, the Governor General at the time, Roméo LeBlanc, signed an ordinance that removed Eagleson from the order.

[15] During his sentencing in July 1998, Eagleson wore his Order of Canada lapel pin, despite the fact it was already stripped from him by that time.

"[2] In June 2003, Ahenakew was formally charged by the Saskatchewan justice department with willingly promoting hatred,[19] but his removal from the order was put on hold until the legal dispute was finished.

[20] On June 29, 2005, the order's Advisory Council began its formal revocation process, during a regularly scheduled semi-annual meeting.

[24] The advisory council considered removing him in 1995, following a criminal conviction related to his cocaine use, but did not move to strip him from the order.

[4] The decision to terminate Fonyo's membership in the Order was gazetted on January 23, 2010,[26] and announced by the Governor General's office two days later.

[27] With the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling on March 29, 2012, not to hear his appeal or grant a new trial, Drabinsky has apparently exhausted his opportunities to have his convictions overturned and is serving the balance of his reduced sentence.

[32] However, due to lengthy appeals, even as Black was serving a prison sentence, he still remained a member of the Order of Canada.

In September 2011, after Black returned to prison due to the failure of his appeal, Rideau Hall confirmed that Black's appointment was under review by the Advisory Council of the Order of Canada, which has the power to recommend "the termination of a person's appointment to the Order of Canada if the person has been convicted of a criminal offence.

"[36] On January 31, 2014, the Governor General at the time, David Johnston, announced that he had accepted a recommendation from an advisory council to remove Black from the Order of Canada.

[37] On the same day, the Governor General, acting on the recommendation of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, also expelled Black from the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, to which he had been appointed in 1992.

[41] Ranjit Chandra was a research scientist and professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1989.

[43] In that same year, the British Medical Journal retracted one of his papers, "Influence of maternal diet during lactation and use of formula feeds on development of atopic eczema in high risk infants", which was published in 1989, due to what was described as "scientific misconduct".

[44] Rideau Hall revoked Chandra's appointment to the order on 3 December 2015 and published in the Canada Gazette on 9 January 2016.

Later in 2023, a CBC News investigation had revealed serious issues with Sainte-Marie's Indigenous ancestry claims, such as her alleged birth to Cree parents on the Piapot First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada.

[10] Members who resign must return all insignia and lose the use of the order motto, ribbon, and badge on their personal coat of arms.

On June 1, 2009, the Governor General at the time, Michaëlle Jean, announced that she had accepted the resignations of astronomer and inventor René Racine, pianist Jacqueline Richard, and Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte.

[68] In autumn of 2023, former judge and academic Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond left the Order after it was revealed that she had misrepresented Cree ancestry.

Organizations such as the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and Madonna House Apostolate have, on at least one occasion, returned Order of Canada insignias of deceased former members.

At this time, the new regime did not recognize international laws regarding diplomatic immunity and allowed a group of students to take control of the US embassy and hold its staff members hostage.

At this point, although married to a Canadian, Zena was awarded an honorary Order of Canada in 1981, due to her being a British subject via her Guyanese citizenship.