Canada rid itself of the Royal Honours system decades ago. You know it kills people like Brian Mulroney that he can't be Knighted by the Queen herself. Being Canadians we came up with a lessor way of honouring citizens that excel in their area of endeavour. The Order of Canada (OC). Not a big deal to the ordinary folk but for what passes for the "elite" in this country, they take great pride in wearing the OC pin on any item of clothing, even likely their PJ's should they be so inclined.
The media and political elite lobby hard and long for the day that they can display the OC pin. You can tell broadcaster Peter Mansbridge takes great delight in wearing the pin.
It is rare that an OC recipient is forced to return the medal and pin. Maybe only a handful of honourees have been asked to turn in the baubles for criminal convictions. Garth Drabinsky, lawyer and theatre Mogul, convicted and sent to prison for fraud and forgery is one such person. Drabinsky was in prison when his OC was taken away. He has since been released. He has hired counsel to win back the medal. Drabinsky wrote a 17-page letter and sent a copy of his biography while in prison to the powers that control the award. He doesn't believe that he got a fair hearing and is appealing to the Federal Court to reopen his file. As aside wouldn't the costs associated with this action be better directed to victims of the fraud, or investors that lost money in his productions?
You have to wonder if it is really worth the effort? Is it that valuable to wear the pin? The OC seems to be one of those odd awards that please the recipients far more than they impress the masses.
I recall that when Drabinsky was to be sentenced many prominent Canadians, many OC members no doubt, wrote letters of support to the judge to take it easy on one of their fellow members of the "elite". It was a credit to the judge that she did not treat him any differently than convicted criminals with a less impressive Rolodex.
If you go by the court of public opinion there is no way Garth is getting his OC back.
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