A Most Welcome Development: Order of Merit receives official status and is ranked superior to the Order of Canada

Here's the latest revelation from the Young Fogey. We posted about this more than a year ago when former Prime Minister Jean Chretien was awarded the honour, that there was no official recognition for the order anywhere in the modern Canadian honours system.

It is delightful enough that the Government of Canada is finally recognizing the Order of Merit, but doubly so with the decision to rank it ahead of the Order of Canada and behind the Victoria Cross. The Order of Merit, limited to just 24 citizens from across the Commonwealth, and bestowed in the personal gift of the Sovereign, is a much more exclusive honour than the highest ranking level of the Order of Canada, which has no limitations whatsoever. So this is a long overdue and welcome change.

I think the Queen is a very clever lady, and may have known or was advised that the best way to fill this conspicuous gap, was to appoint a Canadian to this very prestigious order in order to attract the official recognition it deserves.