Three Anglicans receive 2005 Order of Canada

Three Anglicans – an environmental activist, a politician, and a priest – are among the recipients of the Order of Canada, the nation’s highest civilian award.

Administered by the Governor General and an advisory council, the Order of Canada recognizes Canadian citizens who have given “a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.”

Elizabeth May, executive director of Sierra Club Canada; Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion and Canon Robert Edgar Hulse, of the diocese of Niagara, joined the roster of 79 other new appointees to the Order.

Ms. May, who is also an author and lawyer, became active in the environmental movement in the 1970s when she was among those who put an end to insecticide spraying near her Cape Breton home. Since then, she has been involved in many ecological causes, including a 17-day hunger strike in 2002 on Parliament Hill to focus attention to the plight of residents near the contaminated coal tar ponds in Sydney, N.S.

Interviewed in 2003 by Crosstalk, the newspaper of the diocese of Ottawa, Ms. May stated, “I have no question that what I’m doing is God’s work. I’m called to it.” She said environmentalism is “fundamentally a spiritual issue.”

Mayor McCallion, often described as “feisty,” has been mayor of Mississauga for 27 years. At 84, she remains in good health and has told the Toronto Star that she plans to run again in 2006. Elected in 1978, Ms. McCallion, who is known to work long hours, has been credited with keeping Canada’s sixth largest city in good financial shape. “(Ms.) McCallion is probably best remembered for her leadership during the 1979 train derailment that resulted in the evacuation of 200,000 residents due to leaking chlorine gas,” according to the Star.

Mr. Hulse, who recently served as rector of St. John’s, Elora, Ont., was honoured for voluntary service, particularly in the area of the arts, education and charity. He graduated from Wycliffe College in 1961.