Salmon are Sacred

Alexandra Morton should be the first recipient of this award.

'nuff said.

Politicians

I don`t want to knock the contributions of politicians but it seems to me that the Order of BC should be for contributions that go beyond a job.

Trevor Linden received the Order of BC. He was a pretty good hockey player but that is not the reason he got the award. He used his celebrity as a hockey player to do much good for his community and he is recognized for those contributions.

Politicians are doing a job. And at the federal and provincial level are compensated fairly well. Sure many work tirelessly for their constituents but so do many teachers or doctors or people in other occupations. That should not be the standard of the award. It should be more than just doing good work at your job.

The nature of a politicians job is to make a difference. And only time can tell how much of a difference a politician will have made.

David Suzuki

He has a whiny voice, but he does good work.

The guys...

who put together The Tyee.

They did, and continue to do, an excellent job

Harold Steves

Farmland forever!

ceremony?

Is there an official ceremony for the Order of BC? Any plans to organize a protest?

P.S. Gordon Campbell's nomination was premature

Weasel-words aside, he was still in power when he was nominated. Maybe he was given the award after he quit, but his award should have been done next year, if at all. The way it was done sucks of patronage and incestuousness.

I would like to nominate two other people for their environmental work, but they are not public names and it would be inappropriate.

How about Terry and Betty

How about Terry and Betty Fox?

Replacing flawed OBC is a necessity

The fatally flawed Order of British Columbia must be scrapped. Rushing to aggrandize themselves and their own financial backers, BC Liberals destroyed the award's intended essence.

It was supposed to recognize:
"those persons who have served with the greatest distinction and excelled in any field of endeavour benefiting the people of the Province or elsewhere."

Over time, the statement has mutated to include a part two, which reads:

"those persons who have served the BC Liberal party with distinction and excelled at benefiting themselves and their associates without concern for the people of the Province or elsewhere."

I made my first nomination, a certainty for the short list: Alexandra Morton.

http://northerninsights.blogspot.com/2011/09/for-service-with-distinction-to-bc.html

How about?

Alexandra Morton, Rafe Maier, Michael J. Fox, Harold Steeves to name a few. Of course after the last high profile mistakes maybe none of them would be interested.

I would very much like

the order to be awarded to those individuals in the Squamish Nation, who decided to 'adopt' the former Forest Service recreation sites in their jurisdiction and keep maintaining them and keep the accessible for the public. This is service to the Province as I understand it.

Powellriverpersuader

I'd recommend Grant for the humor he has provided over the last difficult years, the hard hitting articles he writes, and because he always has lots of facts to support them. Takes a lot of research to do what he does and to the best of my knowledge he doesn't get paid for it. Nobody offered Grant a duckshit in England with round the clock bodyguards to protect him from wrathful BCers.

David Y.H. Lui

Sadly it's too late for David Y.H. Lui, though he did receive the OC in 2000.

According to Tieleman

"Regardless of Campbell's failings," wrote Tieleman, "he has made a long contribution to public service as a Vancouver councillor, mayor, MLA and premier...."

When does having a job in government have to do with serving the public, prima facie? You talk like one leads naturally to the other. Talk about drinking the Kool Aid!

truly deserving

Garth Warnock
Google that name.....

ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY SEAN HOLMAN!

Sean Holman is the heroic journalist who speaks for me and every other citizen & friend of British Columbia who believes in fighting for the truth.

Not corporations.

Not ideology.

Not unions.

Just people. Real people.

In fact, as I recall, in the opening days of the "Order of BC" showdown, a Facebook group was created for Sean Holman - https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Sean-Holman-for-Order-of-BC/120095378091716

Cool :-). Although I wonder why the page creator "likes" IRIS Flight Simulation Software. LOL!

My thoughts

Bob Williams
John Calvert
Alexandra Morton

Furthermore, there are some excellent lawyers, retired or near retirement that come to mind that have advanced the law in Canada considerably in such areas as labor law, first nations law, constitutional rights pertaining to disabled persons and environmental law. I will leave it to others to mention names.

Further, there are some incredible First Nations leaders who likewise deserve recognition for a lifetime of work advancing
the rights of first nations provincially, nationally and internationally. I leave it to others to mention names.

Finally, the late Professor Irving Fox deserves recognition for decades of work in the environmental area: (Sierra Club, Sierra Legal Defense, Westwater Research, Integrated Land Use Resouce Planning matters in BC.

The Director of the BC Food Banks for many years - name escapes me --but someone knows.

There are quite a number of musicians, writers, actors/actresses.

Aside from this, the entire Order of BC nomination and selection process needs to be much more open for public participation. Rather then letting a few decide, put the names on line and let those on the voters list vote electronically.

Off the top of my head

Nancy Hermiston - UBC Opera. Gave a much more public face to this art form that had languished so long in Canada, and now on par with Winnipeg and sending grads to Europe to perform.

Ben Heppner - tenor. Not one of Nancy's talents, but a stellar man nonetheless. Not only a European performer of great note, but a constant encourager of good works, helping other students, and lending his name and voice to raise funds for causes around BC and the world.

Abe Rogatnick - artist and architect; and every architect that came through UBC in the last thirty years had his influence to thank for whatever spark of creativity remains in their practice.

Mel Lehan - teach, author, tireless campaigner fopr every cause under the sun designed to make life better for ordinary people, from schools in his neighbourhood, to nuclear disarmament and Jews for a Just Peace. Comes from a line of similar people who also deserve the Order except they're dead.

Just a few quick names that I know personally. Sorry that none of them are businessmen or politicians - I'm sure someone will be able to remedy my oversight...

Trying to nominate someone to The People's Order of BC

Why is The Tyee making it so frigging difficult to nominate someone??? A name, an email address should be enough. My goodness, it isn't as if this is going to go world-wide. Some computer 'genius' at work again???

Dr. Krist Miller and Alexandra Morton

I would put forward these two persons. Dr. Kristi Miller is the one who has taken the previous research into salmon ISAV and salmon anaemia and furthered the science on these serious problems that affect the most significant mental image that BC is known for; our iconic salmon runs; known worldwide by sports fishing enthusiasts, commercial fishermen, the restaurant industry Canada-wide, along with many other groups.

She has risen above the threats to from the federal government to silence her; further testifying at the Cohen Commission has cost her significant funding to her own laboratory; removed by the Treasury Board.

She along with Alexandra, are fighting to save what this province is well known for. That in my book deserves recognition. It is one of our visual symbols of this province; the twisting Chinook, leaping out of the raging stream, hooked on the line with the fisherman standing in wading boots……..

As far as comments on the Order of BC when we have the head of the court system Lance Finch spouting off in public like a cheerleader about Campbell’s eligibility, not only does this reveal a certain personal bias, it shames our entire court system and compromises our courts’ objectivity.

@vera gottlieb

Thanks for the chance to clarify, vera gottlieb.

As mentioned in the story above, we hope to take this list and come up with a shortlist that everyone will have a chance of voting on. The more persuasive the write-up is(especially for those not in the spotlight), the more chance readers will vote for that person. And it allows us to vet the entry.

Apologies if this is too much of a barrier for you. It's much less than is required for actual Order of BC.

What a great idea

The Order of B.C. has clearly become an arm of corporate propaganda that rewards those who work for the anthro-hyaenas.

The People's Order of BC - I look forward to seeing who gets nominated.

A few on my list ...

Alexandra Morton, Adrian Carr & Paul George, David Suzuki, Barry Sullivan (posthumous nomination; the Sullivan Commission of 1987 was a seminal blueprint for educational change that was bungled by ... well, just about every agency and vested interest group that felt threatened by it), Harry Rankin (posthumous nomination), many First Nations groups, sustainable architecture pioneer Peter Busby ... 'nuff for now.

Go Dave!

Dave Barret introduced legislation that even the most aggressive neocons did not dare to destroy!
Thanks to Dave we have the agricultural Land Act, that has saved farmland from "development".
Yes, there have been politicians worth honouring!

And the nominees are...

I would nominate:

Alexandra Morton
Rafe Mair
David Beers
Andrew Nikiforuk
UBC Prof. Chris Shaw
Sean Holman
Bill Tieleman

All have been exemplary leaders in the realm of inspiring us to respect truth and the search for justice.

Tyee please clarify how this will work

Hi Tyee,

Great idea but I think it time you clarify and make transparent "the rules" as to how this will work. For example:
1. who is eligible to be nominated, who not
2. who can vote, who can not
3. what safeguards will you take to ensure security of the voting system for one Tyee memeber = one vote.
4. are there limits to the number of people who can be nominated
5. could a little bio be written up about each nominee so voters can be informed
6. can a person nominated decline

etc.
Hope this gets the ball rolling further along, best now, Pete

People's Order of BC

for your consideration:

Bruce Eriksen - an artist, social activist and founder of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside Residents Association (DERA)

Bill Henderson - lead singer, main composer for the band "The Collectors" which then went on to became "Chilliwack"

With Thanks From The People of BC:

Donald Gutstein - For: "Not a Conspiracy Theory: How Business Hijacks Democracy".

Stanley Tromp - For his work on FOI.

Duncan McCue - For his reporting on aboriginal issues in BC.

Alexandra Morton - The definition of brave integrity.

Brian Brett - BC author/poet. Brilliant.

Sean Holman - Investigative reporting

The Tyee/David Beers - Last but not least. Investigative and Thought-provoking.

How could I forget.....?

The online "Salt Spring News"/ Editors: Jim Scott and Cameron Smith

I nominate ....

BC Mary....A real Canadian hero, the voice of justice, the driving force in keeping the BC Rail theft story alive.

Illness and heartbreak couldn`t stop her.

Good Day

We nominate:

Dr Ernie Murakami retired MD of Hope BC who took on the role of Canada's go-to doctor for Lyme disease. Google his name.

@Peter Dimitrov

You asked: "1. who is eligible to be nominated, who not"

As mentioned in the story above, same eligibility rules as the Order of BC, as documented here: http://www.orderofbc.gov.bc.ca/nominations/

You asked: "2. who can vote, who can not"

Ideally all British Columbian residents. But because of the technical details, we may have to go with one vote per household. Will get back to you on that.

You asked: "3. what safeguards will you take to ensure security of the voting system for one Tyee memeber = one vote."

Looking into it. Will get back to you.

You asked: "4. are there limits to the number of people who can be nominated"

Currently no limits. If we get a lot of spam, we may change that.

You asked: "5. could a little bio be written up about each nominee so voters can be informed"

Absolutely.

You asked: "6. can a person nominated decline"

Interesting question. We'll get back to you on that.

all the unsung heroes who work tirelessly and without pay

There are three people who combined have for more than 20 years protected the environmentally sensitive area of Boundary Bay.

From the days when government wanted to fill in Boundary Bay to build an international shipping port to today where the bay is given an international designation as an important bird area and a wildlife management area my three nominees have been organizing their communities, going to endless meetings and hearings and preventing destructive plans from going ahead that would harm the fragile and important international aspect of Boundary Bay.

The big prize of all would be a RAMSAR designation as a World Biosphere Reserve.

In 1992, Boundary Bay and Roberts Bank were proposed as a World Biosphere Reserve by the Boundary Bay Conservation Committee: Ours to Preserve. The proposal was endorsed by 22 community groups and the Municipal Councils of Delta, Surrey, and White Rock.

Boundary Bay exceeds the recognized criteria for a wetland of international importance (a global designation under the Ramsar convention) and for a Hemispheric category WHSRN (Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network) site. In 1995, 11,000 hectares of Boundary Bay outside the dyke were designated as a Wildlife Management Area (WMA) by the province of BC.

In 1998, Sturgeon Bank was designated a WMA, and once Roberts Bank receives WMA designation the intention is to submit Boundary Bay, Sturgeon Banks and Roberts Bank WMA's for WHSRN designation.

The three hard working persons from Delta are:

Anne Murray
Susan Jones
Dr. Mary Tait

These are just three of the thousands of people of BC who work hard for a better future. Without fanfare and mainstream media piddling themselves over the rich and famours (the so-called movers and shakers) many BC residents collectively provide the most good (which politicians love to claim and own for themselves or their political parties) for all of us.