Order of Nova Scotia
Encyclopedia
The Order of Nova Scotia is a civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...

 honour
Award
An award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signifiedby trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons...

 for merit in the Canadian province
Provinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...

 of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

. Instituted on 2 August 2001, when Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
The Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia is the viceregal representative in Nova Scotia of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada and resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the...

 Myra Freeman
Myra Freeman
-References:* . Government of Nova Scotia. Accessed 2010-12-22....

 granted Royal Assent
Royal Assent
The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...

 to the Order of Nova Scotia Act, the order is administered by the Governor-in-Council
Queen-in-Council
The Queen-in-Council is, in each of the Commonwealth realms, the technical term of constitutional law that refers to the exercise of executive authority, denoting the monarch acting by and with the advice and consent of his or her privy council or executive council The Queen-in-Council (during...

 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
Monarchy in Nova Scotia
By the arrangements of the Canadian federation, the Canadian monarchy operates in Nova Scotia as the core of the province's Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. As such, the Crown within Nova Scotia's jurisdiction is referred to as the Crown in Right of Nova Scotia, Her Majesty in Right of...

.

Structure and appointment

The Order of Nova Scotia is intended to honour any current or former long time resident of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

 who has demonstrated a high level of individual excellence and achievement in any field, having "distinguished themselves in many fields of endeavour and hav[ing] brought 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 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
Nova Scotia House of Assembly
The Nova Scotia Legislature, consisting of Her Majesty The Queen represented by the Lieutenant Governor and the House of Assembly, is the legislative branch of the provincial government of Nova Scotia, Canada...

, 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 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 that bears the viceroyal sign-manual
Royal sign-manual
The royal sign manual is the formal name given in the Commonwealth realms to the autograph signature of the sovereign, by the affixing of which the monarch expresses his or her pleasure either by order, commission, or warrant. A sign-manual warrant may be either an executive actfor example, an...

 and the Great Seal of the province; thereafter, the new Members are entitled to use the post-nominal letters
Post-nominal letters
Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles or designatory letters, are letters placed after the name of a person to indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accreditation, office, or honour. An individual may use several different sets of...

 ONS.

Insignia

Upon admission into the Order of Nova Scotia, usually in a ceremony held at Government House
Government House (Nova Scotia)
Government House of Nova Scotia is the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, as well as that in Halifax of the Canadian monarch...

 in Halifax
Downtown Halifax
Downtown Halifax is the city centre of the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. Located on the eastern-central portion of the Halifax Peninsula, on Halifax Harbour, it serves as the business, entertainment, and tourism hub of the region.- Municipal:...

, new Members are presented with the order's insignia. The main badge consists of a gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 medallion in the form of a stylized epigaea repens
Epigaea repens
Epigaea repens — known as mayflower or trailing arbutus — is a low, spreading shrub in the Ericaceae family. It is found from Newfoundland to Florida, west to Kentucky and the Northwest Territories.-Biological description:...

(or mayflower) the official provincial flower with the obverse in white enamel
Vitreous enamel
Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...

 with gold edging, and bearing at its centre the escutcheon of the arms of Nova Scotia
Coat of arms of Nova Scotia
The coat of arms of the province of Nova Scotia is the oldest provincial achievement of arms in Canada, and the oldest British coat of arms outside Great Britain. It was granted in 1625 by King Charles I for the first Scottish colony on the Canadian mainland...

, all surmounted by a St. Edward's Crown
St. Edward's Crown
St Edward's Crown was one of the English Crown Jewels and remains one of the senior British Crown Jewels, being the official coronation crown used in the coronation of first English, then British, and finally Commonwealth realms monarchs...

 symbolizing the Canadian monarch's role as the fount of honour
Fount of honour
The fount of honour refers to a nation's head of state, who, by virtue of his or her official position, has the exclusive right of conferring legitimate titles of nobility and orders of chivalry to other persons.- Origin :...

. 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.

Inductees

The following are some notable appointees of the Order of Nova Scotia:
  • Joyce Carman Barkhouse
    Joyce Barkhouse
    Joyce Carman Barkhouse, is a Canadian children's writer best known for writing historical fiction.-Education and family life:...

     , children's author, appointed 2007
  • Carrie M. Best
    Carrie Best
    Carrie M. Best, was a Black Canadian journalist.Born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, a daughter to James and Georgina Ashe Prevoe, she married Albert T. Best in 1925. In 1946 she founded The Clarion, the first black-owned and published Nova Scotia newspaper. In 1952 she started a radio show, The...

     , journalist, appointed 2002
  • Lorne O. Clarke
    Lorne Clarke
    Lorne O. Clarke, is a Canadian lawyer and former Chief Justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.Born in Malagash, Nova Scotia, he graduated from Dalhousie University with a B.A. in 1949 and an LL.B. in 1951. In 1955, he received an LL.M. from Harvard University...

     , Chief Justice of Nova Scotia, appointed 2002
  • David Alexander Colville
    Alex Colville
    David Alexander Colville, is a Canadian painter.Colville's family moved from Toronto to Amherst, Nova Scotia in 1929. He attended Mount Allison University from 1938-1942, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Colville married Rhoda Wright that year and enlisted in the Canadian Army under the...

     , painter, appointed 2003
  • Sidney Patrick Crosby
    Sidney Crosby
    Sidney Patrick Crosby ONS is a Canadian professional ice hockey player and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League . Crosby was drafted first overall by the Penguins out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League...

     , professional hockey
    Ice hockey
    Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

     player, appointed 2008
  • Mayann E. Francis , Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
    Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
    The Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia is the viceregal representative in Nova Scotia of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada and resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the...

    , appointed 2006
  • Myra Freeman
    Myra Freeman
    -References:* . Government of Nova Scotia. Accessed 2010-12-22....

     , Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, appointed 2001
  • Constance R. Glube
    Constance Glube
    Constance R. Glube, was the 21st Chief Justice of Nova Scotia and first female Chief Justice in Canada.Glube attended McGill University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1952. In 1955, she graduated from Dalhousie Law School. In 1982, she was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme...

     , Chief Justice of Nova Scotia, appointed 2005
  • Flora Isabel MacDonald , politician, appointed 2007
  • Hugh Allan MacMaster
    Buddy MacMaster
    Hugh Alan "Buddy" MacMaster, is one of the most renowned artists in the tradition of Cape Breton fiddle music.-Early life:...

     , musician, appointed 2003
  • Rita MacNeil
    Rita MacNeil
    Rita MacNeil, CM, ONS is a Canadian country and folk 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 the following year, although she has had hits on the country...

     , singer and songwriter, appointed 2005
  • Morna Anne Murray
    Anne Murray
    Morna Anne Murray CC, ONS is a Canadian singer in pop, country and adult contemporary styles whose albums have sold over 54 million copies....

     , singer and songwriter, appointed 2002
  • John Patrick Savage
    John Savage (politician)
    John Patrick Savage, OC, ONS was the 23rd Premier of Nova Scotia, Canada between 1993 and 1997.- Welsh birth :Born in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales, and keeping his Welsh accent to the end, Savage graduated from Queen's University of Belfast and practiced as a Medical doctor in Newport until he...

     , Premier of Nova Scotia, appointed 2002

See also

  • Canadian order of precedence (decorations and medals)
    Canadian order of precedence (Decorations and Medals)
    The following is the Canadian order of precedence for decorations and medals. Where applicable, post-nominal letters are indicated.-Awards of valour:-National orders:-Provincial orders:-National decorations:-National medals:...

  • Symbols of Nova Scotia
    Symbols of Nova Scotia
    Nova Scotia is one of Canada's provinces, and has established several provincial symbols.-Symbols:...

  • State decoration
    State decoration
    State decorations are orders, medals and other decorations granted by a state. International decorations are similar, but are not granted by a specific nation but rather an international organization....

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