OTTAWA, TORONTO — The Governor-General has the power to veto appointments to the Order of Canada, but it would have been highly unusual for her to use it to block abortion-rights activist Henry Morgentaler from receiving the honour, according to those familiar with the process.
And while a former prime minister and a former governor-general have reportedly intervened to delay appointments, one for political reasons, a spokeswoman for Michaëlle Jean said on Thursday that she follows the recommendations of an independent advisory committee, chaired by the Chief Justice of Canada.
“The Governor-General accepts the recommendations of this duly constituted and independent advisory council,” Lucie Caron said.
Christopher McCreery, the author of five books on the Canadian honours system, said the Governor-General is a neutral arbiter and it would be “highly, highly, highly unusual” for her to overturn a recommendation.
Henry Morgentaler speaks to the media after the Governor-General announced his appointment to the Order of Canada. (Kevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail)
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“In theory, the Governor-General could strike a name off, but it has never happened in Canada,” he said.
Dr. Morgentaler's appointment to the Order of Canada this week has been controversial, highlighting the divide over abortion rights in Canada. Sources have told The Globe and Mail that the decision, usually arrived at by consensus, was put to a recorded vote and opposed by two government members of the advisory committee, Privy Council Clerk Kevin Lynch and deputy heritage minister Judith LaRocque.
Anti-abortion activists questioned why Ms. Jean did not override the vote.
“Since there's so many irregularities here, the fact there was no unanimity on the committee … it really should never have gone forward if that was the case,” said Mary Ellen Douglas, a spokeswoman for the Campaign Life Coalition. “If there ever was a time [for the Governor-General to veto the decision], this is it.”
The Canada Family Action Coalition Thursday called on the Governor-General to rescind Dr. Morgentaler's appointment because the advisory council did not unanimously approve it and the abortion doctor was at one time sanctioned by a disciplinary committee of physicians, resulting in a violation of the constitution of the Order of Canada.
But supporters of Dr. Morgentaler said it's time he was recognized for spearheading the fight to legalize abortion in Canada. Individuals have nominated Dr. Morgentaler almost every year, and there have been at least three major public attempts.
Norman Barwin, himself a member of the Order of Canada and president of Canadians for Choice, sent a nomination letter to the advisory committee after the Supreme Court struck down the country's abortion law in 1988, and then another in 2002.
He received a call from the Governor-General's office about six months ago to ask whether he still stood by his original recommendations. “I used one word: Absolutely,” Dr. Barwin said Thursday.
Dr. Barwin said he believes Dr. Morgentaler's name found its way back on the committee's list because of the letters of support and Dr. Morgentaler's age. He is 85 and recently suffered a severe stroke.
The University of Western Ontario's decision in 2005 to award the doctor his first honorary degree, despite dividing the campus and causing at least one $2-million bequest to be withdrawn, may have also played a part in the advisory committee taking notice, Dr. Barwin said.
“When he got the honorary degree, that was really saying, ‘Look, a university has recognized him – a very prestigious university.' Amidst a lot of controversy, the university stood by it,” he said. “That kind of rekindled it all again.”
Shayna Hodgson, a spokesman for Dr. Morgentaler, said in an interview earlier this week that the honorary doctorate “was one piece of the puzzle, absolutely, that helped.”
Dr. Morgentaler's appointment came into effect April 10, but it was released amid Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill on Tuesday.
Deciding on worthy recipients is designed to be a “pure process” – one without political influence or even subtle lobbying. However, that has not always been the case.
Mr. McCreery said that in 1972 then-governor-general Roland Michener delayed the appointment of one individual to allow a dying person to receive the award first.
And in 1978, then-prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and his Privy Council Clerk, Michael Pitfield, delayed the appointment of Paul Desmarais Sr., head of Montreal's Power Corp., for several months, he said.
There had been a difficult strike at the company's two newspapers, La Presse and Montreal-Matin. Mr. McCreery said that Mr. Desmarais was very unpopular at that time and “they thought it would reflect poorly on the government.”
“Delays are not unusual in the Order of Canada. It's unusual when the politicians get involved because that is the only instance when it has ever happened,” he said.
Since then, Mr. McCreery said, it has been made very clear to the Privy Council and the Prime Minister's Office that “your role in this is just to lie back and watch.”
He said Queen Elizabeth has vetoed only several nominations to the British equivalent of the award, the Order of the British Empire, in her five decades-long reign.
