The mayors of Barrie, Springwater and Oro-Medonte, Alex Nuttall, Jennifer Coughlin and Randy Greenlaw, were among the 25 recipients of Charles III’s coronation medals during a ceremony held in Barrie on Friday.
The ceremony, which was hosted by Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte MP Doug Shipley and MPP Doug Downey, was officiated by Tara Dawn Winstone, a radio host for Fresh 93.1. It was part of a series of similar events being hosted throughout Canada this year to celebrate Charles III’s accession to the throne in May.
Prabhat Batra, Dan Clement, Michel Cormier, John Crawford, Marjan de Jong Deller, Mary-Anne Frith, Michael Gartner, Randolph Gordon Rice, Wayne Hay, Jamie Massie, Dino Melchior, Barry Peacock, Jean Maurice Pigeon, Rowley Ramey, Tanya Saari, Shawn Scott, Graham Simmonds, Sharon Smith, Fern Taillefer, Marcel Vigneault, Barbara White and Kevin White also received medals.
In total, the government is awarding 30,000 medals to individuals who have made a significant contribution to Canadian society or have made an outstanding achievement abroad that brings credit to Canada.
According to Shipley, the event served as a reminder of the reasons he held monarchist leanings. “I think [the institution] is nice and has merit. When you see the smiling faces and the pride on the people last Friday, it really feels like a nice [way to honour their] achievements.”
The medals were designed by Cathy Bursey-Sabourin of the Canadian Heraldic Authority. The 32mm silver medals feature a depiction of the king in ceremonial vestments on the front side and a stylized depiction of Canada’s provinces and territories on the back. Each bears two Latin inscriptions. “CHARLES III DEI GRATIA REX CANADA” (Charles III, by the grace of God king of Canada) is written on the front side while “VIVAT REX” (long live the King) is written on back.
While the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General bears overall responsible for the selection of the winners, the process of nominating candidates fell to provincial lieutenant governors, territorial commissioners, MPPs, MPs, senators, military officers and senior members of the RCMP.
According to Shipley, each of Canada’s 338 members of parliament were asked to nominate 20 individuals from their constituencies. “They passed it on to every MP across Canada to select and give out to people in our community who are unsung heroes.”
“We have got a great list of people who’ve done great work for charity and contributed in many different ways throughout the community.”
