The Order of Nova Scotia (french: Ordre de la Nouvelle-Écosse) is a

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant ...

honour Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

for merit in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. Instituted on August 2, 2001, when

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Myra Freeman Myra Ava Freeman (born May 17, 1949) is a Canadian philanthropist, teacher, the 29th and first female Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. Freeman was born Myra Ava Holtzman in Saint John, New Brunswick, the daughter of Anne Golda (Freedman), a ...

granted

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

to the Order of Nova Scotia Act, the order is administered by the

Governor-in-Council The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it would mean the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of a ...

and is intended to honour current or former Nova Scotia residents for conspicuous achievements in any field, being thus described as the highest honour amongst all others conferred by the Nova Scotia Crown.

Structure and appointment

The Order of Nova Scotia is intended to honour any current or former longtime resident of

who has demonstrated a high level of individual excellence and achievement in any field, having "distinguished themselves in many fields of endeavour and hav ngbrought honour and prestige to themselves and to Nova Scotia." There are no limits on how many can belong to the order, though inductions are limited to five per year; Canadian citizenship is a requirement, and those who are elected or appointed members of a governmental body are ineligible as long as they hold office. The process of finding qualified individuals begins with submissions from the public to the Order of Nova Scotia Advisory Council, which consists of a person who serves as the chair, appointed by the premier; the

Chief Justice of Nova Scotia The Court of Appeal for Nova Scotia (Nova Scotia Court of Appeal or NSCA) is the highest appeal court in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Nova Scotia, Canada. There are currently 8 judicial seats including one assigned to the Ch ...

; the Clerk of the Executive Council and an individual appointed by the clerk; the president of a university in the province; and one person appointed by each of the leaders of the parties in the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony adm ...

, all of whom must be resident in Nova Scotia. This committee then meets at least once annually to make its selected recommendations to the Executive Council and works with that body in narrowing down the potential appointees to a list that will be submitted to the lieutenant governor; posthumous nominations are accepted up to one year following the nominee's death. The lieutenant governor, ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

'' a Member and the Chancellor of the Order of Nova Scotia, then makes all appointments into the fellowship's single grade of membership by an

Order in Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Kin ...

that bears the viceroyal sign-manual and the Great Seal of the province; thereafter, the new Members are entitled to use the

post-nominal letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...

''ONS''.

Insignia

Upon admission into the Order of Nova Scotia, usually in a ceremony held at Government House in Halifax, new Members are presented with the order's insignia. The main badge consists of a

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

medallion in the form of a stylized ''

epigaea repens ''Epigaea repens'', the mayflower, trailing arbutus, or ground laurel, is a low, spreading shrub in the family Ericaceae. It is found from Newfoundland to Florida, west to Kentucky and the Northwest Territories. Description The plant is a slow-g ...

'' (or mayflower)—the official provincial flower—with the obverse in white enamel with gold edging, and bearing at its centre the escutcheon of the arms of Nova Scotia, all surmounted by a

St. Edward's Crown St Edward's Crown is the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Named after Saint Edward the Confessor, versions of it have traditionally been used to crown English and British monarchs at Coronation of the British monarch, the ...

symbolizing the

Canadian monarch The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional Canadian federalism, federal structure and Westminster system, Westminster-style Parliamentar ...

's role as the

fount of honour The fount of honour ( la, fons honorum) is a person, who, by virtue of his or her official position, has the exclusive right of conferring legitimate titles of nobility and orders of chivalry on other persons. Origin During the High Middle Age ...

. The ribbon is patterned with vertical stripes in red, blue, gold, and white; men wear the medallion suspended from this ribbon at the collar, while women carry theirs on a ribbon bow at the left chest. Members also receive a lapel pin that can be worn during less formal occasions. Chancellor's Chain of the Order of Nova Scotia

Chancellor's Chain of the Order of Nova Scotia

Inductees

The following are some notable appointees of the Order of Nova Scotia: *

, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, appointed 2001 *

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray was the fir ...

, singer, appointed 2002 *

Daniel N. Paul Daniel Nicholas Paul, , (born December 5, 1938) is a Miꞌkmaq elder, author, columnist, and human rights activist. Paul is perhaps best known as the author of the book '' We Were Not the Savages''. Paul asserts that this book is the first such his ...

, Mi'kmaw Saqmawiey (Eldering) C.M., O.N.S., LLD, DLIT, Author, Historian, appointed 2002 * Carrie M. Best , journalist, appointed 2002 * Lorne O. Clarke , Chief Justice of Nova Scotia, appointed 2002 * David Alexander Colville , painter, appointed 2003 * John Patrick Savage , Premier of Nova Scotia, appointed 2002 * Hugh Allan MacMaster , musician, appointed 2003 *

Sister Dorothy Moore Sister Dorothy Moore (born in 1933) is a Mi’kmaw educator, Indigenous Elder, Residential School survivor, and social justice activist. Moore was born in the Mi'kmaw community Membertou, Nova Scotia. She was the first Mi’kmaw person in a Rom ...

, CC, Mi'kmaw educator, appointed 2003 *

Rita MacNeil Rita MacNeil (May 28, 1944 – April 16, 2013) was a Canadian singer from the community of Big Pond on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island. Her biggest hit, "Flying On Your Own", was a crossover Top 40 hit in 1987 and was covered by Anne Murray ...

, singer and songwriter, appointed 2005 * Constance R. Glube , Chief Justice of Nova Scotia, appointed 2005 * Mayann E. Francis ,

Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia The lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia () is the viceregal representative in Nova Scotia of the , who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada, as well as the other Commonweal ...

, appointed 2006 * Flora Isabel MacDonald , politician, appointed 2007 * Joyce Carman Barkhouse , children's author, appointed 2007 *

Nora Bernard Nora Bernard (September 22, 1935 – December 26, 2007) was a Canadian Mi'kmaq activist who sought compensation for survivors of the Canadian Indian residential school system. She was directly responsible for what became the largest class-actio ...

, Mi'kmaq activist, appointed posthumously 2008 * Ruth Goldbloom , former director of

Pier 21 Pier 21 was an ocean liner terminal and immigration shed from 1928 to 1971 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Nearly one million immigrants came to Canada through Pier 21, and it is the last surviving seaport immigration facility in Canada. The f ...

National Immigration Museum, appointed 2008 * Sidney Patrick Crosby , professional

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

player currently playing for the NHL's

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

, appointed 2008 *

J. Chalmers Doane J. Chalmers Doane (born 1938) is a Canadian educator and musician who spearheaded the use of the ukulele for music instruction in the Canadian school systems. Educator John Chalmers Doane was born in Truro, Nova Scotia in 1938. Doane earned ...

, Canadian educator and musician, appointed 2010 *

Wanda Thomas Bernard Wanda Thomas Bernard (born August 1, 1953) is a Canadian senator. She was formerly a social worker and educator from East Preston, Nova Scotia. Bernard is the first Black Canadian to have an academic tenure position and become a full professo ...

OC ONS, social worker, educator, Canadian Senator, appointed 2014 *

Janet Kitz Janet F. Kitz (January 12, 1930 – May 10, 2019) was an educator, author and historian in Halifax, Nova Scotia who played a key role in the recognition of the 1917 Halifax Explosion, the largest man-made explosion prior to the atomic bomb and ...

, educator, Halifax Explosion historian and author, appointed 2018 * Noni MacDonald ,

paediatric Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

ian and first woman Dean of the Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine, appointed 2019 * Stella Bowles ,

environmental scientist Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geogra ...

and youngest recipient of the Order of Nova Scotia, appointed 2020

External links

Order of Nova Scotia webpage

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Order of Nova Scotia * Provincial and territorial orders of Canada Nova Scotia awards

Structure and appointment

Insignia

Inductees

See also

External links

References