On Parliament Hill

Recently, I was honored to host a special awards ceremony for the recipients of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medallion.

On February 6th of 2022, Queen Elizabeth II became the only British/Canadian Monarch to reach the milestone of seven decades on the throne.

While the official national decoration created for this occasion was a lapel badge, Canadian Provinces and Members of Parliament also had the opportunity to create their own Royal commemorative medals to mark Her Majesty’s seventy years of selfless service to Her people.

Many nominations came in and 50 worthy individuals were selected to receive the honour.

In our riding, the eligibility and criteria for these badges and medallions was simple: Who has made an exceptional contribution to our community?

Like Queen Elizabeth, who are those individuals who have devoted their lives to service.

Those honoured have lived lives of exemplary community and public service, and whose longevity of service is also noteworthy.

Those honoured spanned generations, diverse fields of work and study, and political affiliation and preference.

Each one is an example of what ordinary citizens can do when they seek to serve others.

What is, perhaps, most extraordinary of all is the fact that most, like Elizabeth, would not consider their achievements to be extraordinary. (And I think true service can only take place when that level of humility is present).

I suspect many of those who were honoured would have preferred we didn’t “make a fuss”, but we wanted to recognize the achievements, the selfless generosity, and the personal toll it takes on individuals and their families.

Whether it be jumping out of bed at three in the morning to rush to put out a fire, to caring for the poor and sick, to serving in public office, all take a toll and all are worthy of recognition.

It was a privilege to honour these individuals and their service to Provencher.