Canuck Dopers: Dr Morgentaler - Order of Canada - Yea or Nay?

Great Debates
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On July 1, the Governor General’s office announced that Dr. Henry Morgentaler, the person who probably did more than any other single Canadian to decriminalize abortion by means of civil disobedience, was named to the Order of Canada.

The appointment has triggered considerable opposition, including statements from the Prime Minister and others on the government side that they disagree with the appointment. Some past members of the Order have started turning in their snowflakes to protest. Other commentators have suggested the Order shouldn’t go to such divisive figures, while still others have suggested it shows a liberal bias on the part of the advisory committee.

On the other hand, supporters of Dr Morgentaler strongly support the appointment, saying it’s about time, that he’s done more for women’s reproductive rights than anyone else, including doing jail time for his beliefs.

And today, an opinion poll came out suggesting two thirds of Canadians more or less support the appointment.

What say you, Dopers?

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I’m fine with it. He was instrumental in securing what I consider a basic human right.

3

No argument from me. And the PM has to least hem and haw a little about it to pacify the rightmost members of his party, but he won’t actually do anything about it.

4

I’m fine with it.

5

That sums things up for me.

6

Yea.

7

Yea.

8

100% agree with it. I am in rural Alberta, our local newspaper had a “Letter to the Editor” from a man vehemently opposed to this. He compared Morgentaler to Idi Amin, Phol Pot, Josej Stalin and Josef Mengeles :rolleyes:

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I’m OK with it personally. I can certainly see how divisive it is though. The problem with abortion is that there is a true dichotomy of opinions on the subject and very few people on the middle of the fence.

10

People have been given the Order of Canada for a hell of a lot less.

MOST people have, actually.

Just for fun, I did a search of OC recipients from 1/1/2000 to 31/12/2003. In those three years, 822 people were given the Order of Canada (or admitted into it, or however it’s phrased) which is an average of more than five people a WEEK. I think anyone would have to agree that admitting a person every working day of the year is a pretty staggering number of people to receive what is supposed to be the highest civilian honour the nation has. I would be very hard pressed to name 822 Canadians I think are deserving of “the highest civilian honor” we can, much less come up with 822 in just three years.

Taking a sample of names at random, you are, as near as I can tell, admitted to the Order of Canada for basically anything, as long as you did something that made you either reasonably famous or popular with the elite and didn’t commit any serious crimes. Picking some names at random I got:

  • A guy who was a really good aviation engineer
  • A pianist who, by the admission of his OC summary, isn’t very well known
  • A geneticist
  • A doctor who once did some work in Bangladesh
  • A person who wrote a cookbook, which is apparently so popular that neither it nor its author even have a Wikipedia entry
  • Basically every single person who has ever been involved in the Stratford theatre scene for more than twenty years.

Going through more of the list I realized I probably had never heard of nineteen out of every twenty names. The great majority were just professionally successful, usually professions that had some weight in political discourse, like organized labour, medicine, education, etc. It’s quite obvious that having friends in high places recommend you is a big part of it. Some weren’t even Canadian and didn’t do anything in Canada, like Vaclav Havel, the former president of Czechoslovakia, a man for whom I have enormous admiration and would gladly put on a list of the 100 greatest peacemakers of my lifetime, but who seems less than ideally suited for the Order of Canada, given that his accomplishments all took place in, you know, Czechoslovakia.

Compared against the average OC name, Morgentaler is a towering giant. I respect that some people oppose abortion, but the fact is that in Canada is IS legal, is regarded as a fundamental part of the security of the person as defined by the Constitution, and he was instrumental in making that happen. It would be absurd for a government that recognized abortion as a fundamental element of women’s freedom to NOT recognize the person who more than any other made it legal, when they will recognize almost anyone for almost anything. It would be a pathetic joke if Morgentaler were NOT admitted into the OC.

11

Yea. (And RickJay’s analysis is excellent.)

12

As someone who is (more or less) anti-abortion, I agree. Nor can I find a reason to argue with it. Morgentaler is certainly more deserving than many others so honored.

13

What level was he admitted to? Canada doesn’t have knighthoods, it goes; Member, Officer, Companion, right?

14

Dr. Morgentaler stood for his convictions and put his life in danger for many years to secure rights for women. I say yea.

15

Morgentaler was named a member of the Order of Canada, which in my opinion is the equivalent of a knighthood. It’s a nod of recognition, but not the highest one.

Geddy Lee and the members of Rush are Officers - which recognizes “a lifetime of achievement and merit of a high degree, especially in service to Canada or to humanity at large.” Pretty tall order for a musician :slight_smile:

I think the handful of people who have turned in their C.M.'s are being particularly petty and small-minded.

16

I agree with RickJay. I feel he deserves it more than most people who have gotten it. Some of the awards seem to be more “quota-filling” than recognition of true outstanding Canadians.

17

Hell Yea.

18

I disagree.

I don’t know anything about the OP referenced opinion poll on Canadian support for the appointment but the June 2008 Angus Reid Strategies pollsuggests 42% want some restrictions on abortion. That’s more like it was when Trudeau legalized abortion in 69. That was was before we ever heard of Morgentaler. All Morgentaler did was get all restrictions removed in 88 and make 11 million dollars a year in the process.

When nearly half of Canadians oppose what Morgentaler fought for, it seem to me that the appointment is a slap in their faces by their head of state. Regardless of Morgentaler’s merits the honour should be considered bestowed on behalf of the Canadian people and 49% of the Canadian people just doesn’t cut it.

What next? Norma L. McCorvey gets the Presidential Medal of Freedom?

19

There’s a far cry between 42% of Canadians wanting some restrictions on abortion, and calling Morgentaler’s appointment a slap in the face to half of all Canadians.

Fr’instance, according to the Angus Reid poll, 53% of Canadians want minors to have parental consent before getting an abortion. That doesn’t mean they oppose abortion – they just want to know if their kid is getting one (Me, I’d want to know if my kid is having sex first).

And look at the poll. 65% of Canadians support Morgentaler getting the Order of Canada. That means even people who want restrictions on abortion are open-minded enough to recognize he has done a significant amount of work that changed our country.

You may not agree with the appointment – and you don’t have to. I won’t force you to.

But I have to say that personally, when I heard on Canada Day that Morgentaler was named to the Order of Canada, I felt extremely proud to be a native son of such a tolerant, progressive country.

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I’ve** long** felt extremely proud to be an adopted son of such a tolerant, progressive country, Michelle :slight_smile: