Governor General strips two Order of Canada appointees of honours

Former CEO of SNC-Lavalin Jacques Lamarre was found guilty of corruption and Street Kids International founder Peter Daglish was found guilty of sexual assault.

Warning: Graphic content

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon announced Friday she approved the termination of two Order of Canada members after they were found guilty in separate cases.

The move was announced in the Canada Gazette, the federal government newspaper.

Peter Dalglish, founder of the charity Street Kids International and brought into the order in 2016, was found guilty in Nepal of sexually assaulting two boys, aged 11 and 14.

Former SNC-Lavalin CEO Jaques Lamarre, who was made a member in 2005,was found guilty of collusion and corruption in relation to the firm’s work in Libya with Saadi Gadhafi, son of former dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Dalglish, originally from London, Ont., was sentenced to a total of 16 years jailtime in a Nepalese court after police raided his home in Nepal where they found the two young boys.

A Nepalese law enforcement official accused Dalglish of luring the boys away from their poor families with things like education, jobs, or trips and then sexually abusing them.

As for Lamarre, who served as CEO for SNC-Lavalin between 2001 and 2009, a Quebec disciplinary council pulled Lamarre’s licence and fined him $75,000 last January for his involvement with the SNC-Lavalin-Libya scandal.

The engineer organization found Lamarre had paid $2 million to the Gadhafi family.

Previous Order of Canada terminations

Other expelled order members include National Post founder Conrad Black, singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie and theatre mogul Garth Drabinsky.

Black, a former media baron and writer, was removed in 2014 by former Gov. Gen. David Johnston. He served just over three years in a Florida prison after being convicted of fraud offences connected to his running of the Hollinger newspaper business.

He had been inducted to the Order of Canada in 1990 and renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2001 to accept a peerage in the British House of Lords.

Saint-Marie, a Juno Award-winning artist, was removed from the Order of Canada after family members in the U.S. said she had no Indigenous heritage, nor was she adopted from an Indigenous family.

According to The Canadian Press, her official website had alleged that she was born on a Saskatchewan reserve and taken from her blood parents. A Cree family adopted her through an oral history connection.

Saine-Marie has since said she never lied about her Indigenous roots.

As for Drabinsky, who was brought into the order in 1995, was sentenced to five years in prison for fraud in 2009 and had his Order of Canada stripped while serving time.

Drabinsky and his business partner Myron Gottlieb were found to have lied about funds in a scheme that led to the demise of Livent Inc, the company behind Broadway hits like “Phantom of the Opera” and “Ragtime.”

With files from The Canadian Press

If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual assault or trauma, the following resources are available to support people in crisis:

• Call 911 if you are in immediate danger or fear for your safety.
• The Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres' website has a comprehensive list of sexual assault centres in Canada that offer information, advocacy and counselling.
• The Ending Violence Association of Canada‘s website has links to helplines, support services and locations across Canada that offer sexual assault kits.
• Indian Residential School Survivors Society crisis lines: [phone] or [phone] (24/7)
• Toronto Rape Crisis Centre crisis line: [phone] (24/7)
• Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline: [phone] (24/7)
• Trans Lifeline: [phone]
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: call or text 988 (24/7)
• Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre for current and former Canadian Armed Forces members: [phone]
• Read about your rights as a victim on the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime website.