Conrad Black - Order of Canada

Order of Canada

See also: Removal from the Order of Canada

Black was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada (OC) in 1990. In September 2011, after Black returned to prison due to the failure of his appeal, Rideau Hall confirmed that Black's award was under review by the Advisory Council of the Order of Canada which has the power to recommend “the termination of a person's appointment to the Order of Canada if the person has been convicted of a criminal offence.” Once the review process started, Black submitted a written application in defense of keeping his Order of Canada, but failed in his efforts to persuade the Advisory Council he should appear before them to defend his case orally. Black then took the matter to the Federal Court of Canada which ruled that the Council had no obligation to change its regular review process (which allows for written submissions only) simply to accommodate Black. Black is appealing the court's decision.

In an interview, Black intimated that he would rather resign from the Order than be removed. “I would not wait for giving these junior officials the evidently almost aphrodisiacal pleasure of throwing me out. I would withdraw,” he told CBC’s Susan Ormiston. “In fact, I wouldn’t be interested in serving.”