The Honours Policy Committee then reviews the proposal again and, if approved, it is passed on to the prime minister for consideration. If the prime minister approves the new award, the Queen’s informal agreement is sought. From this point an order-in-council is processed through the Privy Council Office. On the advice of the prime minister of Canada, through the governor general’s office, the letters patent and design paintings are sent to Buckingham Palace for approval by Her Majesty the Queen. It is only when the Queen signs the letters patent that the honour is considered to be officially created.
Once the paintings and letters patent are signed by the Queen, a press release is sent out by the governor general and the regulations for the new award are published in the Canada Gazette. Amendments to the criteria for Canadian orders, decorations, and medals do not have to be approved by the Queen but can be made by the governor general.
4
PEERAGES, BARONETCIES, AND THE IMPERIAL ORDERS OF CHIVALRY
While only infrequently summoned to the peerage of the United Kingdom — thus becoming a member of the House of Lords — a number of prominent Canadians have been elevated to the upper chamber of the Parliament at Westminster in connection with their services to the British Empire, Britain, or Canada. A peerage not only constitutes a hereditary title and a seat in the House of Lords but it was and remains considered an honour of the Crown. A baronetcy, a sort of hereditary knighthood that does not entitle the holder to sit in the House of Lords, was also employed as an honour of the Crown, though it was bestowed on only a few Canadians.
Residents of Canada were more frequently appointed to the various imperial orders of chivalry. Indeed, the diverse array of orders served as the principal means of bestowing official recognition upon Canadians for meritorious achievement and lifetime achievement in the military and civil fields until 1967. This chapter provides an overview of the type of service each order was used to reward, the number of Canadian residents appointed to each order, and various details related to the insignia recipients were presented with.
Canadian citizens continue to be appointed to a number of these orders, though solely for services to the United Kingdom or a number of the Queen’s other realms. As there are a large number of Canadian citizens who hold British citizenship and there are continuing close relations between the two countries, it is not uncommon for Canadians to be rewarded with appointment to an imperial order in recognition of services rendered to the United Kingdom.
Honours such as the Imperial Service Order are no longer awarded to British citizens, though through a curious arrangement citizens of a number of Commonwealth countries continue to be appointed to this order on the advice of their national governments.
The Order of Merit, Royal Victorian Chain, Royal Victorian Order, and Order of St. John are all examined in Part II. They are elements of the Canadian honours system that are shared with the United Kingdom and the Queen’s other realms, whereas the peerage, baronetcy, and orders examined in this chapter clearly fall into the category of imperial honours that Canadians have not been appointed to on the advice of the Government of Canada (Queen in Right of Canada) since 1968.
A number of imperial orders of chivalry are not detailed in this chapter. These include the Most Noble Order of the Garter, the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, the Most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick, the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India, the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, the Royal Guelphic Order, the Imperial Order of the Crown of India, and the Order of Burma. While many of Canada’s governors general and their spouses were members of some of these orders, few, if any, were bestowed upon residents of Canada. Only one person closely associated with Canada, Lord Pirrie (born in Quebec City), was appointed to the Order of St. Patrick. Former Governor General Vincent Massey would have been made a Knight of the Garter if the Queen had not been advised against doing so by Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent and his successor John Diefenbaker. The Royal Guelphic Order has a connection to Canada through a number of important figures, notably Sir Francis Bond Head, lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, and Sir John Franklin, the intrepid Arctic explorer who perished in what is modern-day Nunavut. Unless otherwise stated, all of the numbers listed in this chapter are for honours bestowed upon residents of Canada for services to Canada. Where possible the number of honours bestowed on Newfoundlanders has also been listed.
The Peerage in the United Kingdom
The tradition of bestowing titles upon loyal subjects of the Crown in Canada was not unique to the British. Under the French regime, titles were bestowed upon particularly distinguished subjects (see chapter 3).
A map of this complex system begins with the peerage in the United Kingdom, which is made up of different levels of peers:
I Duke/Duchess
II Marquess/Marchioness
III Earl/Countess
IV Viscount/Viscountess
V Baron/Baroness
VI Life Peers (Baron/Baroness)
Prior to 1999, almost all members of the peerage were entitled to sit in the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the British Parliament — much like the Senate is the upper chamber of Canada’s Parliament. Until 1957 almost all peerages were hereditary; thus the title passed to the eldest male heir of a peer upon his death. In some exceptional cases, a peerage title could pass through a female child, as happened with Lord Strathcona, who had two daughters but no son.
The peerage is unusual in that being summoned as a peer is both an honour — in that a title is bestowed — and that, until recently, one generally became a member of the upper chamber of the British Parliament. The passage of the House of Lords Act, 1999, removed all but a handful of hereditary peers from the House of Lords, making it more like the Canadian Senate. Since 1957, almost all appointments to the peerage have been of life peers, meaning the title (always a baron) is held only by the recipient and is not inherited after his or her death.
Over the span of Canadian history, twelve peerages and one other title have been bestowed upon Canadians. Among these, five are considered to be Canadian peerages — that is, awarded after consultation with the Canadian government. The first of these went to Sir George Stephen, who became a baron on June 26, 1891. Stephen, like two other Canadian peers, was president of Canadian Pacific Railway, and it is not unlikely that he owed his appointment to the “help” he gave the ruling Conservatives in the 1891 election campaign. This connection between the CPR and the awarding of titles strengthened opposition to hereditary honours among some in the Liberal Party of the period, who connected the procedure to the operations of patronage and party financing in the Canadian political system.
The second Canadian (and sole Canadian woman) appointed to the peerage, Lady Macdonald, became Baroness Macdonald of Earnscliffe on August 14, 1891. She was not entitled to sit in the House of Lords, and it seems safe to conclude that she was honoured mainly in memory of her late husband, Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, who was to be the initial recipient of the honour had he not died while still an MP.
The next appointment to the peerage, Sir Donald Smith, was another former president of the CPR. He was appointed in his capacity as Canadian high commissioner to London, becoming 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal in 1900. Smith continued as Canadian high commissioner until his death in 1914. Sir Thomas Shaughnessy, the principal catalyst for the 1902 Privy Council Report on honours and titles — and like Strathcona and Stephen also a president of the CPR — was elevated to the peerage in 1916.
The last Canadian to be elevated to the peerage after consultation with the Canadian government was Sir Hugh Graham, president of the Montreal Star, whose name figured so prominently in the 1917–19 debate on honours.