OttawaWatch: Other names on the list

By Lloyd Mackey

HAS THE Order of Canada been debased by veteran abortionist Henry Morgentaler being named to the high honour?

That could be argued, but there are some constructive ways of dealing with the latest list of recipients that would do two things. One would be to circumvent the Morgentaler issue and all that implies, leaving other forums to revisit the abortion issue. The other would be to remember that the new list has many names on it besides Morgentaler's.

I defer, in fact, to a press release on the issue, provided by REAL Women of Canada, the Catholic-oriented social conservative advocacy group whose branding makes the fine point that one need not be a left wing feminist to be a real woman.

The release makes the kind of point that would be expected of REAL Women -- that the Order has become:

. . . a political tool to promote the left-wing agenda . . . mainly . . . awarded to feminists, homosexuals, environmentalists, left-wing broadcasters, writers and other involved in promoting the political left. Rarely has the Order of Canada recognized the services of those who take a conservative approach to issues.

It is a different matter for those receiving recognition as a member of the Order of Canada for accomplishments of local and regional significance.

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The fact is that most of the people named to the Order of Canada, at either the Officer, Companion or Member level, are recognized for local and/or regional significance, rather than national or international. Further, most of the award categories are narrowly specific. Here are a few categories coming from the July 1 list which included Morgentaler:

1. Commerce
2. Law
3. Politics
4. Visual arts
5. Social sciences
6. Writing
7. Communications
8. Voluntary service
9. Philanthropy
10. Health care
11. Education
12. Environment

However, each time I look over a list, I try to find names of people whom I know to be seriously Christian and reputed to be bringing their faith to bear in a way that shapes the way they live and relate to others.

The next two names following Henry Morgentaler's, on the July 1 list, were Philip Walter Owen and Andre Poilievre.

How providential. Both people, as it happens, fit the criteria I just suggested.

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I first met Philip Owen in the early '90s, when he was a member of the Vancouver city council. I had been assigned by Faith Today magazine to write about some civic politicians who were Christian.

While I had not met Owen before that time, I knew something about his spiritual pilgrimage. His family had been long associated with St. John's (Shaughnessy) Anglican Church in Vancouver. He was a good churchgoing family man and active in service to his community.

In the '80s, two things happened at St. John's.

One was that Harry Robinson, a genial and curmudgeonly evangelical, became the rector.

And secondly, as a result of Robinson's preaching and pastoral work, many St. John's members began to take seriously their personal commitment to Jesus Christ and their interest in getting to know and understand the Bible. One of those people was Philip Owen.

The St. John's saga continues to this day, to the point where, under current leadership, the church, the largest Anglican congregation in Canada, has reluctantly become a part of the movement protesting what is seen to be a departure from biblical orthodoxy.

But I digress.

My first meeting with Owen was to interview him about his work as a city council member. A few minutes into our session, he received a phone call. It appeared that the call was urgent and he needed his privacy. He asked if I could wait a few minutes in the outer office.

When he called me back in, he said, as closely as I can recall: "I would appreciate your prayers. That call was from the head of the political body under which I run for election. They have done some polling and found two things. The first is that the candidate that they had hoped to run for mayor is not electable. The second is that I am."

Later that year, Owen began what turned out to be a 10-year run as mayor of Vancouver.

Briefly stated, his was a fine tenure. He was both gracious and firm in his leadership style. He walked in a godly fashion before the world and had the appreciation of his critics as well as his admirers. He did not try to push his faith on others, as some of Christian conviction are inclined to do. But he was always ready, in context, to bear witness to what Christ meant to him.

The citation associated with Owen's naming to the Order of Canada states simply: "For his long-standing commitment and contributions to the city of Vancouver."

* * *

The second person below Morgentaler's name is Andre Poilievre of Saskatoon. I have not met him, but am aware that he is a Catholic priest.

I have tried to find out from Pierre Poilievre, the young and outspoken Conservative MP from the Ottawa area, whether he and Andre are related. It being summer and all, I have not been able to get him to get back to me, although I understand he is quite busy with the current 'in-and-out' deliberations of the House of Commons ethics committee.

Pierre, as some might recall, was embarrassed into apologizing for on-air remarks during a 'Lunch Bunch' discussion on CFRA, the local Ottawa talk station. He made the comments the day that Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued the government apology to First Nations people with respect to residential school abuse over the past 100 years.

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Poilievre's off-the-cuff comments about aboriginals and government program spending were widely interpreted as being insensitive to First Nations people -- and quite inappropriate especially in light of what was to happen three hours later. It was good that he apologized.

But my point in raising that incident is to note the citation connected to the Order of Canada membership of his possible relative, Andre Poilievre.

It reads:

For providing social and moral support to Aboriginal and inner-city youth for more than 20 years, and for helping steer them away from the pitfalls of addiction and gang violence.

* * *

So, next time you see a list of Order of Canada recipients, I would encourage you to look at it in some depth, through gospel-aware eyes.

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Lloyd Mackey is a member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa and author of Stephen Harper: The Case for Collaborative Governance (ECW Press, 2006). He can be reached at lmackey@canadianchristianity.com.

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Canada has no real abortion law
Continued controversy over Henry Morgentaler's Order of Canada is depressing for one feature -- its incredible but persistent irrationality. The award itself is incidental. Fundamental to the argument is the passion with which each side remains transfixed by loyalty to an unreal absolute -- life or choice.
Reginald Stackhouse, Globe and Mail, July 10

Nation of noodles
While I unburdened myself last week of my contempt for Canada's Governess-General, her Chief Justice, her Prime Minister, and other, undesignated officials -- in the affair of what I have come to call the "Order of Morgentaler" -- I'm not sure the people of Canada have yet been sufficiently condemned, and I will devote this week's column to rectifying that oversight.
David Warren, Ottawa Citizen, July 13

This woman's right to choose
We are still hearing about "a women's right to choose." The phrase hasn't gone out of fashion yet. I'm a woman, and on Tuesday I made a choice. I travelled with four others to Rideau Hall in Ottawa to return an Order of Canada medal.
Susanne Stubbs, National Post, July 14

A worthless award
The Order of Canada is something that I had never spent more than a few milliseconds thinking about (in common with most Canadians, I suspect) until the Morgentaler controversy came along and the Post invited me to express my opinion. So now I've researched it, and I'm relieved to see that my former inattentiveness was fully justified. My informed opinion is identical to my previous gut reaction. The Order of Canada is not worth thinking about. It's not worth having. We should never have started the whole thing in the first place. Why? Because giving awards for "outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation" is not a proper function of the state.
Karen Selick, National Post, July 15

A worthy reward
The kerfuffle over honouring abortion doctor Henry Morgentaler with the Order of Canada has raised the question of whether there's a place for awards and honorifics in a society where the equality of man is an entrenched value. I'm mixed on the issue because I am somewhat of an egalitarian snob. I love equality in principle, but I also subscribe to the Orwellian notion that some pigs are more equal than others.
John Moore, National Post, July 15

An all-star team
Morgentaler's recent Order of Canada has spurred a variety of controversies, from past recipients returning their snowflakes to critics demanding the entire system of national recognition be abolished. But if we consider the Order of Canada to be the all-star team of Canadians, it seems obvious that Morgentaler deserves to be on it. In fact, if we're keen to fix the Order of Canada, the first order of business should be fewer floaters and more impact players like Morgentaler.
Peter Shawn Taylor, National Post, July 16

A proxy caste
After reading Karen Selick's denunciation and John Moore's approbation of the Order of Canada in Tuesday's Post, my conclusion is that Moore's chances of eventually getting one just improved significantly, and Selick's disappeared entirely. For any rational observer of OC history knows that only people who hold the "correct" views are eligible for the OC, and Ms. Selick's views aremanifestly "incorrect." Which isn't to say that most of the OCs aren't worthy. But then there are all those equally worthy individuals who will never get one because they hold the wrong views. Case in point: bio-ethicist Margaret Somerville whose nominator was told by a committee member her candidate was "too controversial." Ms. Somerville has made a great contribution to the intellectual life of Canada and has received a cornucopia of other honours. But she does not believe in gay marriage. For the committee, offending gays is controversial, while sickening Catholics is not.
Barbara Kay, National Post, July 16

Henry Morgentaler's Order of Canada: From crime to virtue?
It wouldn.t have occurred to me to give Dr. Morgentaler an Order of Canada, but if the Governor-General (or whoever stamps out these numismatic oddities) wants to give him one, let her. I.m not getting my knickers in a twist over it. Perhaps it.s salutary for an abortion doctor.s name to crop up among the recipients, just to put the Order of Canada into perspective. His inclusion doesn.t debase the honour, only illuminates it for the self-congratulatory establishment celebration that it is. Most awards and decorations are a ritual of pack members sniffing each other for the elite scent of recognition, routinely confusing a whiff of posterity with a whiff of posterior.
George Jonas, National Post, July 16

The Order of Canada is ridiculous
A lot of people are making a big fuss over Henry Morgentaler getting the Order of Canada -- and I agree that his honour represents a dumb, gratuitous slap in the face to the millions of Canadians who see the man as a murderer. But then again, why should the state honour anyone in my name -- apart from those, such as military heroes, whose sacrifices are specifically rendered in the service of the nation itself?
Jonathan Kay, National Post, July 16

Clash of aborted intellects
If something as banal as a government-issued medal could cause so much of a stir, then, I thought, it would be much better to stop giving out the Order and avoid the accompanying hassle. Then, the other day, I realized that what was actually turning me off was the utter, boring stupidity of the abortion debate, not the awarding of the Order to Henry Morgentaler.
Yoni Goldstein, National Post, July 17

July 17/2008