Procedure
The removal process begins by sending a written petition to the Deputy Secretary of The Chancellery or by the Deputy Secretary initiating the process himself/herself. If the petition was started by a citizen, the claim could be judged as valid or invalid. If it is invalid, the Deputy Secretary will consult with the Secretary General of the Order and a letter will be sent to petitioner explaining their decision. If it is valid, the petition will be sent by the Secretary General to the Advisory Council.
The Advisory Council now has the decision to either continue or to stop the removal process. If it stops, the Secretary General will notify the petitioner. If the Council sees reasonable grounds for the process to continue, the removal-nominee will go through the remainder of the removal process.
The Secretary General will send a registered letter to the removal-nominee that allegations were filled against them and their status in the Order of Canada is under consideration by the Advisory Council. The letter also gives the removal-nominee the options of responding to the allegations or to resign from the Order.
If the removal-nominee decides to leave the Order on their own, they will notify the Secretary General of their decision. If the removal-nominee decides to challenge the allegations, either they or their authorized representative will respond to the allegations within the time limit set in the notification letter. Whatever action the removal-nominee takes, the process will be handed back to the Advisory Council for further consideration. Once the Advisory Council has made their decision, they will send a report to the Governor General explaining their findings and their recommendations. The Governor General, following the recommendation of the Advisory Council, will either notify the person that they will remain in the Order in good standing or issue an ordinance terminating a person's membership in the Order. Once the ordinance has been published, the person must return all Order insignia to the Secretary General of the Order and their name will be removed from all records held by the Chancellery. The former member also loses the right to use their post-nominal letters in their names and loses the use of the Order motto, ribbon and medal on their personal coat of arms.
When the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador was created in 2001, it included a removal system modelled after that one used by the Order of Canada.
Read more about this topic: Removal From The Order Of Canada