The Rt. Hon. Mary Simon: An INAUSPICIOUS start

Seven months after bidding farewell to the worst Governor General, and one of the biggest medal offenders in Canadian History (wearing unrecognized NASA Medals, and the Order of Canada and other honours as jewellery) we have a new Governor General installed. The seven months with the Chief Justice, Richard Wagner, as Chief Administrator of the Government, was marked by not one single medals offence. Wonderful work!

Richard Wagner: A model "almost GG"

Now we have the installation of Ms. Mary Simon (formerly OC, OQ and some Jubilee Medals), who is now a Companion of the Order of Canada (CC), Commander of the Order of Military Merit (CMM) and Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces (COM), and Her Excellency, has decided to just freelance on the wearing of medals. Oh it is so sad to see the new Governor General disobeying the rules, rules which she is supposed to uphold. Following the ignominious example of Julie Payette at her installation in 2017, she has opted to just wear her Order of Canada and not her commemorative medals. We are off to an inauspicious start. Starting her tenure breaking the medal wearing rules means either she has followed the Payette route and hired a bunch of friends to advise her, there is no one left at Rideau Hall to advise a Governor General, or after three years of constant mental beatings by Julie Payette, the advisors have all lost their ability to advise OR most worryingly, that the new Governor General just doesn't care.

So what was she doing wrong? Well we are delighted that she is wearing her CC on a bow, but where are her commemorative medals -- those humble little gongs that several hundred thousand Canadians have earned since Canada 125 in 1992? Given how long Her Excellency has been in the Order of Canada she should at least have the Golden Jubilee Medal 2002, and Diamond Jubilee Medal 2012? For more than 300k a year you think you would be able to at least pay attention to these sorts of details. 

Payette and her benefactor Justin Trudeau, 2017
Not wearing her commemorative medals,
just like Ms. Simon on installation day 2021

First day on the job, Mary Simon already breaking the rules. 

Is it such a big thing to ask that a Governor General wear their orders, decorations and medals correctly? There are lots of good current examples of people weaning them correctly. Take for instances, the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, The Hon. Russell Mirasty, SOM, MSM. He gets how to wear his medals correctly, why can't the Governor General?

A model medal wearer:
Lieutenant Governor of Saskatcewan Russell Mirasty

We can only hope that such media luminaries as Colby Cosh, who referenced our blog in an article in the  January 22, 2021 National Post, is paying attention to the "protocol nerds" (his phrase), who are flagging yet another potential rule ignoring Head of State. 

Now that we have a Governor General, even if she did wear her medals wrong on her big day, we can hope she will correct the offence. We can also hope she will get to work and promptly strip Julie Payette of the undeserved honours of the Order of Canada, Order of Military Merit and Order of Merit of the Police Forces. The sooner we can forget all that happened between October 2017 and January 2021 the better. 

Bye Bye Offender-in-Chief, Julie Payette: Time to hand back your CC, CMM, COM and CD

The departure of Julie Payette as Canada's Governor General and Commander-in-Chief has brought relief to many of us here at Wearing Your Medals Wrong. Her Former Not So EXCELLENcy's approach to wearing Canadian orders, decorations and medals was on par with what the media has exposed as her alleged treatment of staff, volunteers, colleagues, the RCMP protective detail and practically everyone she came into contact with.

Way back in September 2018 we noted that Payette had been parading around Rideau Hall, in front of a group of protocol, medals and heraldry experts, wearing totally unauthorized NASA gum ball machine prizes... errr, we mean "I went to space and didn't die" medals. 

It was with great glee that we note that Colby Cosh of the National Post even picked up on this blog's tracking of Payette's great NASA medal wearing debacle on January 22 in "The Cult of Celebrity has no place in the governor general's office."

Cosh amusingly, but accurately notes; 

"in one of the under appreciated low points of her tenure, to wear her more subtle NASA decorations, eschewing the governor general's Canadian insignia in favour of corporate awards from a U.S. government agency. It was mostly protocol nerds and monarchists who foamed at the mount over that one, but in retrospect I defy anyone to say they didn't have a point -- and it ought to have been noticed earlier..." 

Thank you for this Mr. Cosh. As a group of protocol nerds we appreciate this recognition. Like you we hope the next Governor General will not be a complete and unmitigated Challenger (OV-099) like disaster. 

HAND BACK THE GONG'S PLEASE ! 

We can only hope that the Advisory Councils of the various Orders for which Mme. Payette once served as Chancellor (the Order of Canada, The Order of Military Merit and the Order of Merit of the Police Forces), will cancel/erase her appointment to some of our country's highest honours. There is no question that Payette has brought disrepute upon these Orders in a more public manner than any previous holder of a CC, CMM or COM. Payette should be removed from the three Orders, be required to return her Canadian Force's Decoration and also hand in her Order national du Québec. We can also hope that she will be stripped of the style "Right Honourable" and lastly her coat of arms should be erased, defaced or dis-honoured in some obvious manner. For her Rideau Hall portrait we suggest any number of the hilarious cartoons which her actions have generated from the talented pens of Canada's editorial cartoonists. 

Perhaps there is no more visual way to acknowledge Mme. Payette's disgrace then by fiddling with her coat of arms. A search of the internet (none of us are experts on heraldry although we have some followers who are), reveals that we just have to turn Payette's coat of arms upside down (an Abatement) to show she has behaved in a highly dishonourable way. 

We have gone further and  removed Payette's Order of Canada and Ordre national du Québec medals, along with the motto of the Order of Canada. The grey circle around Payette's shield represents the grey and sadness that she brought to Rideau Hall and the grey state of mental health she left so many of the staff in. This greyness totally encircles Payette's shield. The Crown was also removed, if there were any maple leaves in her arms we would have removed those as well.

This is a very obvious visual way of showing how awful Payette was in every aspect of her service as Governor General, treatment of staff and Canadians. 

Another option is to rewrite the symbolism of her arms, if only that Privy Council Office report didn't contain so many words, we might be able to include direct commentary in the augmented "ignominious Payette arms."

Governor General Payette Doesn't Care About the Rules... or the Canadian Armed Forces

It is unfortunate that our Commander-in-Chief thinks that the lowly Canadian Forces Decoration (the C.D.), which rank and file members of the Canadian Armed Forces earn and wear with pride, is not worthy of being worn for an important national event like the Speech from the Throne. Does Her Excellency not like the red and white ribbon in the colour of our national flag or the gold coloured multi-sided disc? Why has the poor C.D., been relegated to a sock drawer at Rideau Hall for today's ceremony? 

The Canadian Forces Decoration
Good enough for members of the Canadian Armed Forces
but not good enough for
Julie Payette, CC, CMM, COM, CQ, CD.

In advance of today's event in Ottawa we received more than thirty emails speculating on just what newfangled manner Her Excellency the Right Honourable Julie Payette, would find to wear her gongs... well she has opted for a rather lazy approach, one that is disrespectful to members of the Canadian Armed Forces. Her Excellency has adopted the "jewellery method" of wearing medals. The Jewellery Method demands that you simply "wear whatever looks nice," as opposed to following the rules so clearly defined by the Office of the Governor General.

Governor General Payette & her first speech from the throne,
medals all wrong again. It's clear she just doesn't care about the rules. 

For today's event, December 5, we see the Governor General wearing the insignia of Companion of the Order of Canada (C.C.) and Chevalier of the Ordre National du Quebec (C.Q), ... but what about her actual group of medals, with the 2012 Jubilee Medal and Canadian Forces Decoration? Obviously a provincial honour is more important to our Commander-in-Chief than serving as the head of the Canadian Armed Forces. Had she simply worn her medal group all would have been fine. She just needed to put her medal group where she has her Ordre of Quebec bow. The ultimate offence is that she places more importance on her C.Q., than she does on displaying her role as Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces. 

Exceedingly rare photo!Governor General Payette in a rare moment of
almost following the rules.

As readers, and anyone in the CAF will know, the Canadian Forces Decoration (C.D.) is awarded to members of the Canadian Armed Forces after 12 years of service (12 years of undetected crime as it is often put jokingly). The Governor General gets this medal when they are appointed as Governor General to signify that they also serve as Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces. 

To the right above we have an exceedingly rare photo showing Governor General Payette wearing her medals ALMOST correctly. She just needed to shorten her Order of Canada ribbon and all would have been fine (or put her C.C. on a bow). Is it really too much someone who gets two free houses, staff, travel and more than $300,000 a year to follow the rules that her office is suppose to uphold and regulate? 

Despite this snub to the CAF it could have been worse. The Governor General could have decided to wear  her NASA Medals! 

Surprisingly few Remembrance Day 2019 offences reported, so no posting was required this year.

When everybody’s somebody, nobody’s anybody! D-Day 75th and the brass hats

We made it through the various D-Day commemorations without Governor General Julie Payette showing up wearing her NASA Medals or breaking any medals wearing rules which is a relief.

Canada's two highest ranking medals wearing offenders. The Governor General Julie Payette -- known for wearing totally unauthorized Space Trip Medals from NASA, and Honorary LGen Richard Rohmer, who loves to wear every pin and bauble in his sock drawer -- even unauthorized ones. 

That being said, we had a flood of emails asking about the sash being worn by Honorary Lieutenant General Richard Rohmer, who has been featured on this blog several times before. As we have noted in the past, we have great respect for the Honorary Lieutenant General’s valorious service in the Second World War and his contributions to Canada over his long and highly accomplished lifetime. 

What we take issue is with his penchant for wearing his medals incorrectly – and wearing unauthorized medals. An officer, gentleman and an one of Her Majesty’s Counsel Most Learned in the Law (he is a lawyer and a Queen’s Counsellor) one would assume that Rohmer would know that even he has to follow the rules and regulations set out by the Government of Canada as managed by the Governor General’s Office. No sadly he does not, so during the 75^thanniversary of the D-Day landings the CBC and other networks were full of images of Honorary Lieutenant General Rohmer parading around wearing a mystery sash, too many neck gongs, at least one unauthorized/ unrecognized medal and some weird looking pin with a trillium on it.

First let us address the mystery red sash. What is it? Has Rohmer been made a Grand Cross of the Legion d’Honneur or a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath or a Knight Grand Commander of the New Zealand Order of Merit– it is none of these as they are worn over the right shoulder and not the left. A search of the Canada Gazette, where all authorized foreign decorations and orders are listed when they are properly awarded to Canadians, fails to reveal that Rohmer has been awarded anything new. Could it be that as an honorary Lieutenant General, Rohmer has decided that he can wear an CAF Infantry Sash over the left shoulder given his years of service in the CAF? 

Now let us examine Rohmer’s impressive group of mounted medals.

Rohmer's mounted group of medals.

Right beside his St. John Ambulance Long Service Medal (black and white ribbon with 3 bars), there is a blue ribbon with a yellow stripe – it looks much like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Long Service Medal – yet Rohmer never earned the RCMP LSM, so it is not that. A search of Rohmer’s Wikipedia page reveals it could be the United States Navy Distinguished Marksman Ribbon which he earned long ago, but that award doesn’t come with a medal. So it must be the Toronto Emergency Medical Services Long Service Medal. Totally unauthorized for wear along with officially granted federal and provincial honours, this lustrous medal is struck in high quality aluminum foil and dipped in clear nail polish to give it an impressive shine. 

The Toronto EMS Long Service Medal 

Of course the wearing of this medal along with officially granted federal and provincial medals is a violation of Order-in-Council 1998-591; but hey, Rohmer is already breaking a host of rules (only two neck badges are to be worn in RCAF DEU) covered in A-AD 265 Canadian Armed Forces Dress Instructions, that everyone else is supposed to follow if they are wearing a CAF uniform, but it seems having a load of gongs and a heavy brass hat means you are immune from the rules or a watchful RSM or even our  Chief of Defence Staff.

Then there is the badge on the pocket that Rohmer is wearing above his Order of St. John breast star. There is the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation, and RCAF Ops Wings which are all legitimate and authorized, and then the mystery oval pin. It looks like some sort of Ontario awards with a white trillium – 75 years of safe driving of a motor vehicle? 75 years of residency in Ontario? The award for not picking trilliums in Ontario? Just what is this mystery badge? 

All this is written fully expecting a number of irate emails from readers chastising us for DARING to question such a notable and well regarded veteran. Well even the highly accomplished and high ranking are open for criticism if they break the rules the rest of the Canadian public are supposed to follow. 

This is all best left to Rohmer himself. In a January 2019 article carried in Zoomer Magazine. Rohmer notes “I’m the most highly decorated citizen in the country. It takes me 20 minutes to put the medals and decorations on.” Well aside from the grandness of the statement (one would never expect to hear the great Canadian exemplar of medal wearing, Major General George Pearkes, VC, PC, CC, CB, DSO, KStJ, MC, CD, CdeG, to utter such a phrase), I think you get the general idea (pardon the pun) that the General knows exactly what he is doing when he puts on a uniform – be it is RCAF, Ontario Provincial Police or Toronto EMS uniforms. 

Without Further Comment; Daniel Woolf

A few readers sent us this photo of the now former President of Queen's University, Dr. Daniel Woolf, wearing what appears to be the United Nations Korea War Medal. Given that Dr. Woolf's biography states he was born in 1958, we are not quite sure how he managed to serve in the Korean War with US or Commonwealth troops. 

UN Korea War Medal

Woolf all dressed up with Arthur McDonald, a Companion of the Order of Canada, who also received the Nobel Prize;  it is a bizarre image. This photo was taken in December 2015 with Professor McDonald was presented with his Nobel Prize. 

One can only imagine what the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf, who knows a thing or two about medals, thought of the Canadian university administrator parading around with a lone medal he could not have possibly earned. Not exactly an effective way of looking "important" in a auditorium filled with a few Heads of State and some of the most highly honoured/decorated people in the world. Perhaps a university scarf of jersey would have been a more effective way of announcing the crowd "look at me, I'm important too." 

You really shouldn't wear medals you didn't earn, even if you're putting them on the right hand side of your jacket. 

ViceRegal Report Card 2018

This report is a bit late, but it will certainly be of interest to our loyal readers. It is that time once again to grade the various professional medal wearers; the Governor General and the Lieutenant Governors from across Canada. We won't look too deeply into the sad situation of the Governor General here. On the whole the Lieutenant Governors are doing a solid job of wearing their medals correctly. 

Off to the Magic Show?
The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta,
the Hon. Lois Mitchell.

The main offender in the provinces is Alberta's Lois Mitchell who seems to enjoy wearing all sorts of different capes! Rule number one of wearing robes/capes/mantles, you don't pin medals on them and you don't wear mayoral or Order chains over top of them -- unless you want to look really really strange and desperate to appear more important than you are. You also don't wear multiple Orders on bows. Where is a slightly knowledgeable ADC or RSM when you need one?

As we saw in a previous post Alberta really does seem to be the "wild west" of wearing medals and wearing all sorts of fake municipal and provincial medals.

The new Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan Tom Molloy, is a quick study and after his installation seems to have corrected the "olympic medal" style of wearing his neck gongs. Great improvement here. 

Lieutenant Governor Molloy at his Installation.
OC worn "Olympic Style"

Lieutenant Governor Molloy wearing his SOM and insignia correctly.
Our most improved student. 

Similarly the news Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, Janet Austin is doing a great job wearing her medals -- not sure what the deal is with the Presidential salute though! Of course there remain a few outliers -- the LG of Prince Edward Island doesn't seem to wear medals at all. 

The Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. Great at wearing medals.
But... what's with the Presidential Salute? 

This is the most solid report card we have had since we started this blog in 2010 in an effort to combat the habitual rule breakers. 

With Bob Paulson gone as Commissioner of the RCMP the wearing of unapproved/fake medals (aside from the Governor General according to media reports) has come to a end for the time being at the top of Canada's national police force. 

Julie Payette: NASA Medals before the Order of Canada?

After being reported in the National Post that Governor General Julie Payette was wearing a NASA Medal at an "International Symposium on Symbols and Honours" in late May we sought a photo. 

We have been sent several pictures, although the clearest one is shown here. This was sent to us by three different blog followers. In the image below you can see Her Excellency wearing two NASA Medals -- this photo is also on the TwitterFeed of the Global Affairs Canada Protocol Chief. 

The Governor General wearing TWO NASA medals; May 2018.
The NASA Exceptional Service Medal and the NASA Space Flight Medal

NASA Exceptional Service Medal 

One has to feel sorry for the poor Army ADC  who had to stand looking respectful as the Governor General and Commander in Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces, spoke to a room full of medals officials and heraldry experts, wearing not her Order of Canada or Order of Military Merit insignia, but two unapproved medals. Apparently Her Excellency went on at some length about how the medals were for "heroism". So the head of the Canadian Armed Forces doesn't think the rules about wearing medals apply to her.

NASA Space Flight Medal

So what is the problem with the Governor General wearing NASA Medals? Well, the rules set out by the Government of Canada for the wearing of orders, decorations and medals, both Canadian and foreign (through Order in Council 1998-591) clearly state in section 4  “Foreign orders, decorations and medals the award of which is approved by the Government of Canada are worn after the orders, decorations and medals referred to in sections 1 and 3,....” 

A search of the Canada Gazette which lists the approval of such awards revealed Canada has never approved any NASA medals for anyone, not even Governor General Payette. Added to this fact is that like the frequently awarded US Commendation Medals, NASA Medals are not “national” awards from the USA, they are awarded by a government agency – they have a total of 16 awards for NASA alone.

What a strange situation to have the Governor General violating the rules she is supposed to uphold. It's a bit sad she thinks NASA Medals are more important than the Order of Canada, the Order of Military Merit or any other part of the Canadian honours system. Its all a bit more than just wearing the "wrong decoration" its in essence wearing an illegal pair of medals... but we wouldn't want to be accused of being fussbudgets. It is after all just the Governor General breaking a regulation set out by an Order-in-Council. 

The Wild West of Medals: Alberta

It is still difficult to figure out what the deal is with Alberta and the myriad of fake municipal and provincial baubles that the uniform crazed protective services here like to wear. It is as though a police tailor from the Southern USA in the 1970s (aka Boss Hogg's tailor) has been transported to Calgary to sell surplus uniforms, bizarrely coloured ribbons and all sorts of badges to  peace officers. 

Perhaps an informed reader can fill us in on just what the various ribbons are. The fellow pictured here is wearing the Order of St. John, the 2012 Jubilee Medal, the Police Exemplary service Medal, the Alberta Centennial Medal, two of the mystery Alberta Protective Services Medals (both not approved for wear), then AMAZINGLY the Northwest Canada Medal 1885, for fighting against the Riel Resistance/Rebellion (or is it the Royal Red Cross?), then what looks to be the Royal Canadian Humane Association Bravery Medal and the Buganda Order of the Happy Republic? So more than half of this guys group of medals are entirely unapproved and essentially make believe. 

Name that ribbon!

So many pretty colours...
what do they all mean?!

There is of course another uniformed fellow in this photo to the right, wearing some of the same make believe gongs. We hope pointing out this sea of funny ribbons isn't misconstrued as "bullying" especially given the topic of the photo op. 

At least the two guys in the middle of the back row are following the rules. 

UPDATE: We have received a number of comments/emails, and even the link to a guide published by the Alberta Fire Commissioner related to the wearing of the various Alberta and municipal medals. 

The Alberta Emergency Services Medal has not been approved by the Governor General/ Government of Canada, nor has it been approved for wear alongside official national honours. If it had been approved it would be on the Governor General's website list and it is not. 

There are only two Alberta related medals approved for wear -- despite the bizarre fantasy set out by the Alberta Fire Commissioners's "Guidelines." The medals approved for wear on the left side along with official national honours are:
1) the Alberta Order of Excellence;
2) the Alberta Centennial Medal.

If the medal does not appear on the list of Orders, Decorations and Medals approved by the Chancellery of Honours, via a Federal Order in Council, then you CANNOT wear it not he left hand side along with official Orders, Decorations and Medals. It doesn't matter what the Alberta Fire Commissioner writes in a guide or proclaims when it comes to the wearing of honours on the left side. For things worn on the right side of a Firefighter's uniform in Albert then of course the Fire Commissioner can make up whatever rules he or she likes, just not for the left side where official honours are worn.

Just because something which is incorrect and in violation of an Order in Council is published as a PDF online doesn't make it correct, right or legal. It is a bit bizarre to have the Alberta Fire Commissioner openly violating a Federal Order in Council; 1998-591 in this case, the Canadian Orders, Decorations and Medals Directive. 

NASA Medals and Governor General Payette?

Loyal readers, rest assured we are working on a few posts that will be released over the coming week.  It has been revealed in the National Post that the Governor General, Julie Payette, wore a NASA Medal to an event at Rideau Hall in front of a group of experts on honours earlier this sumer. We understand it was the NASA Space Flight

"NASA Frequent Flier Medal"
The NASA Space Flight Medal

Medal -- which is awarded to everyone who goes to space. 

If anyone has a photo of this occurrence we would be most grateful to have an electronic copy for publication. It is indeed an unprecedented event to have a serving Governor General openly violating Order-in-Council 1998-591. 

Having such a high official wearing their medals incorrectly is sadly a reality we have come to accept; having the representative of the Queen and the Canadian people parading around breaking their own regulations and setting an overt bad example reaches a whole new level of disregard for the honours system and the thousands of Canadians who follow the rules. So much for setting a good example. Sadly none of this is surprising given Her Excellency's casual approach to wearing orders, decorations and medals.  

Can You Wear Medals in Space? The Governor General's Otherworldly Approach to Medals

It is probably best to start off this posting by saying outright that Governor General, Julie Payette seems to have absolutely no clue about how to wear her orders, decorations and medals. 

Rt. Hon. Julie Payette... new to wearing medals.

As this blog has noted repeatedly over the past eight years, there are inevitably some people in public life who habitually wear their medals wrong. There are of course, some who are never supposed to be seen wearing their medals incorrectly -- those citizens who hold important office being top of the list. This elite group includes such notables as the Commissioner of the RCMP (when we had one – apply now here), the Chief of the Defence Staff, other senior members of the various uniformed services, the head of the Royal Canadian Legion, and of course the Governor General. With the departure of Bob Paulson as Commissioner of the RCMP (who spent his time as Commissioner wearing an unrecognized medal and violating Order-in-Council 1998-591 with impunity) we had a brief period where it seemed this group of people were all behaving well and following the rules for the most part. Sadly this period of medal wearing bliss has come to an abrupt end with the arrival of Julie Payette in Ottawa.

Before going further it is worth noting that among the many emails we receive, not all include photos of various offenders wearing illegal/unrecognized medals. There are some who write to complain that this blog is irreverent, and “how dare we deride those who have achieved greatness in public life.” Thankfully we live in a country where you can criticize and poke fun at those who have reached high office and who have inevitably committed some gaffe or embarrassment...  and you don’t have to worry about being carted off to a gulag. Canadians have certain expectations of those who hold high office and one of those expectations is that they will follow the law of the land – that is, they will follow the rules of the play ground. In the world of orders, decorations and medals there are very specific rules about how you wear your medals – yet some people just do not care, or worse yet, think they are “more special” than the rest of us, so they get carte blanche to do whatever they want. 

President Diaz of Mexico.

Sadly, it seems the new Governor General, Julie Payette, CC, CMM, COM, CQ, CD, has at this early stage in her time as Canada’s head of state, demonstrated that she just doesn’t care about the rules or she is clueless and isn't willing to learn; what medically is known as "Early Onset Instant Dictator Syndrome," or EOIDS -- see page 544 of the DSM-5. This ailment traces its history back to President Diaz of Mexico and the late 1890s, although some European monarchs of the 19th century suffered from a milder form, Diaz had the first diagnosed case. 

The immediate past Governor General, David Johnston was a pro at wearing his medals. In his last four months in office (June to September), Johnston undertook 81 events/visits (where photos were posted) at which 13 were events where medals were worn – and he worn them correct every single time, thats a 100% success rate. 

In her first four months in office (October to January) Julie Payette undertook 40 events where photos were posted on her website. Of these medals were worn on 13 occasions, and at 10 of these (that is 77%) she managed to wear her medals incorrectly. This includes pretty much every medal wearing error possible;  doubling up on bows, neck ribbon that is too long and more suitable for the Winter Olympics, not wearing a medal bar when wearing neck insignia, wearing a miniature Order of Canada insignia, but not her full size Order of Canada at a formal dinner, and failing to wear her various medals while reviewing a CAF Guard of Honour where everyone else was wearing their medals. It appears the Governor General views medals as little more than awkward jewellery. But it is actually much worse when you compare this Governor General to her recent predecessors, Michaelle Jean and David Johnston, and how they performed during their first four months in office -- we won't comment on the "operational tempo" of the new Governor General.  

	Michaelle Jean	David Johnston	Julie Payette
No. events 1st four months in office	89	68	40
No. events where medals worn	8	8	13
Occasions medals worn correctly	6	8	3
Medal Wearing Grade	75% (B+)	100% (A++)	23%   (F)

*This survey is not scientific as we can only derive the figures from the photos posted on the Governor General’s website. 

So in the field of wearing orders, decorations and medals, Payette is absolutely dismal at wearing her gongs. Probably worse than anyone else who has ever lived in Rideau Hall – since the beginning of Canada. Not exactly an outstanding start to her time in office. 

Now loyal readers, for our gallery of Governor General Medal Wearing Horrors: 

WRONG: Neck ribbon too long, where is your medal bar and
why are you wearing a CC lapel pin as well? 

WRONG: But almost correct. Sadly, neck ribbon is too long... you're not at the Olympics. 

WRONG: You should be wearing your full size CC,
and you full miniature bar. 

WRONG: Two bows are not permitted... historians note this is the first time the
Order of Canada and Order of Military Merit have been worn on a snowsuit. 

WRONG: You should be wearing medals not a lapel pin.

WRONG: Where is your medal bar? 

WRONG: Not wearing your medal bar again. 

We had more than two dozen emails about Her Excellency on Remembrance Day wearing her RCAF Uniform – which she is entitled to wear as Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces. The uniform suits her well, but of the 28 emails, many from current serving members of the CAF, 23 of them noted that her hair was not in conformity with regulation. 

CORRECT: except the non-regulation haircut. 

Governor General Payette, with the greatest respect, you're NOT King Louis XIV, you can’t just do whatever you want when it comes to wearing medals and CAF uniforms. You're suppose to serve as an example for all Canadians.

The anarchist approach to wearing medals might be fun for school plays and Halloween, but it is unbecoming the Commander-in-Chief. 

Chief Ron Gignac, Belleville Police Service and the wearing of "extra medals"

As we have noted in a number of posts over the years, police officers, especially Commissioners, Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs are often guilty of breaking the rules when it comes to wearing Canadian Orders, Decorations and Medals. Yes some of the people who oversee the enforcement of the law of the land seem to feel they are not subject to the same medal wearing regulations that the rest of the population is supposed to follow. 

Sadly the more gold you add to some uniforms the more likely the wearer is to come down with a serious case of the dreaded "Instant Dictator Syndrome" whereby they take the liberty of enhancing their group of medals by adding in unauthorized gongs -- be it foreign, provincial or municipal. What it all comes down to is these people wanting to look even more important  than they really are. All of these people know better, or have people on their staff who know better, but they trudge ahead through life with a few extra ribbons -- just for that added touch of colour on their uniform! The former Commissioner of the RCMP, Bob Paulson spent his entire time at the top of the RCMP wearing a totally unauthorized medal, the British Columbia Police Meritorious Service Medal, so this is not a problem suffered by municipal and provincial protective services alone. If the Commissioner of the RCMP can wear a medal without lawful authority then can't anyone do the same? 

So that brings us to the subject of this particular post, Chief Ron Gignac, Chief of Police for Belleville Ontario. By all online accounts a rather upstanding fellow, who served in the first Gulf War and with the UN deactivating mines and then training people how to undertake this rather hazardous task. He proudly wears his undress ribbons and medals; sadly, 3 of the 8 ribbons he wears (or 38% of his medals) are unauthorized -- and all three duplicate his service in the Gulf War -- so unlike all the other Canadians who served in the Gulf & Kuwait who received the Gulf and Kuwait Medal (a single medal), Chief Gignac has an additional three medals for the same service! Four for the price of one -- this is quite honestly a new record for enhancing medal group. 

Chief Ron Gignac, wearer of unauthorized medals;
four for the price of one!

So the first two rows of Chief Gignac's ribbons are totally legitimate; Gulf & Kuwait Medal, Canadian Peacekeeping Medal, UN Medal for Cyprus, UN Medal for Iraq and the Canadian Forces Decoration. These five are all approved and well recognized. 

Then we get into the magical land of unauthorized foreign medals. The first appears to be the United States South West Asia Service Medal, followed by the Saudi Arabia Medal for the Liberation of Kuwait and lastly the Kuwait  Medal for the Liberation of Kuwait. Given that Canada does now allow doubling up on medals for the same campaign, and the fact that NO person serving the Canadian Armed Forces was ever authorized to wear these last three medals (just check the Canada Gazette) how did Chief Gigac get permission? His name appears nowhere in the Canada Gazette or a new book out by DND related to Canadian Armed Forces Personnel who have been awarded foreign medals. We encourage Chief Gignac to just remove the last three ribbons, it would be the honourable and proper thing to do. Not even Chiefs of Police are permitted to violate a Federal Order-in-Council. 

Alberta: Land of Fake Medals GALORE

A number of PPCLI friends posted to Alberta have been calling for a post about all the "funny" medals they see being worn in their adopted province. Each time a Chief of Police of Fire Chief holds a press conference we are treated to a variety of unrecognizable ribbons. Just type "Alberta" and "Medal" into google and marvel at the host of poorly designed, completely unofficial medals that are being conferred upon residents of the province for all manner of government and  protective services. This is a topic briefly we examined in the blog back in May 2016.

It really is the wild west of medal invention and wearing when it comes to Alberta. The protective services seem to be spending a great deal of time fussing over buttons, ribbons and bows. Everyone seems to be getting into the act, not just the provincial government, but municipalities of every size seem to want to become like old European city states and Grand Duchies, conferring baubles on all who render even modest service. None of this would really be worthwhile commenting on if it wasn't for the fact that these popcorn medals are being worn alongside official national and provincial honours -- which is, as we point out with great regularity, a violation of Order-in-Council 1998-591. It is made all the more offensive in that the people who are most frequently doing this are police, fire and peace officers -- people who are supposed to be trained to enforce & follow the laws and regulations of the land. 

The province of Alberta established a pair of medals; "The Alberta Peace Officer Long Service Medal" and the "Alberta Solicitor General Long Service Medal." Never mind that most people who are eligible for these medals are already entitled to the Peace Officer Exemplary Service Medal, which is given out by the Governor General to peace officers across Canada. It seems one medal is not enough for the same sort of service -- and everyone wants to look like a "hero" or worse yet, a dictator from a less developed country. 

Alberta's Special Constable
Long Service Medal

Queen's South Africa Medal.

Aside from the totally uninspired design -- you would think putting the word ALBERTA on the front of a medal once would be sufficient, but, to assure the wearer that they know from which province their popcorn bauble emanated, the name of the province appears twice on the same side -- there is the problem that for the Alberta Peace Officer Long Service Medal, the ribbon is a direct rip-off of the 1899-1901 Queen's South Africa Medal, which was awarded to various British and Commonwealth troops who served in the Boer War. It really is just cheap and cheesy to steal the ribbon from a war medal (about 7,000 Canadians fought in the war and 267 died). 

Alberta Emergency Service Medal

But it gets better because there is also the Alberta Emergency Service Medal -- another medal for which the recipient would also be eligible for the Governor General's; Fire Exemplary Service Medal or Emergency Medical Services Exemplary Service Medal or the Peace Officer Exemplary Service Medal. 

Sadly the festival of popcorn medals has trickled down to municipalities and also to individual police forces as well. There is the Lethbridge Regional Police Medal (given for 15 years of service), and a host of baubles from the medals crazed Calgary Police Service, where it seems everyone in uniform has at least two medals -- usually less than half are actual official national or provincial honours that you are permitted to wear (Halloween exempted). You can see the beautiful quality of the Calgary Police Long Service Medal... freshly cast in lead and then wrapped in aluminum foil here on the right.  

A Calgary Police Sergeant,
half of his medals are not authorized for wear.

Calgary Police:
Integrity...except in medal wearing? 

More mystery medals from Alberta, including one of Valour!  We all recognize the Golden Jubilee Medal and Police Exemplary Service Medal, then it appears we have the Alberta Solicitor General's Medal, which is given for having earned the Governor General's Police Exemplary Service Medal?
Then the last medal which is a mystery at the moment.

Lethbridge Regional Police Service Medal -- 

ribbon borrowed from an Austrian medal of course.  

This collage of mysterious municipal medals would not be complete with out the various medals for fires. There is the Town of Slave Lake Medal of Honour, for the 2011 Fire, and then the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo Fire Medal for the 2016 Fort MacMurray Wildfire. These are first natural disasters in Canadian history to warrant the creation of a series of municipal honours it would seem.

Not to downplay the significance of the devastation that was suffered, or the exemplary character of those who fought the flames, however, it seems rather grand to be issuing medals for natural disasters. To get the Medal from the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo you had to serve 100 hours. You can read all about the "program" and the design on the municipalities website. Thankfully the website notes that the Wood Buffalo Medal is not an official national honour -- but it begs the question, why then put it on a ribbon when you know people are going to mount it alongside their other medals with the help of some overeager medal mounter who wants everyone to look like Idi Amin. 

Town of Slave Lake Medal of Honour (2011 Fire)

Municipality of Wood Buffalo Fire Medal (2016)

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