Wednesday August 28, 2024 | VANCOUVER, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The King Charles III Coronation Medal was awarded to 54 British Columbians in a ceremony at HMCS Discovery in Vancouver on Tuesday, August 27, 2024.
Awards were presented by BC Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin.
The King Charles III Coronation Medal, a Canadian honour created to mark the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III, was launched by Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada.
The medal recognizes those who have made a significant contribution to Canada or to a particular province, territory, region or community of Canada, or have made an outstanding achievement abroad that brings credit to Canada, and who were alive on May 6, 2023 (the King’s coronation date).
To honour public service employees, medals have also been allocated to federal departments and agencies, including DND.
The medal is being awarded to 30,000 people across the country. This is the first Canadian honour to mark a coronation, notes the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.
The work of the recipients spans many sectors and organizations, from non-profits and uniformed services to education and historic or culturally significant institutions.
The lieutenant governor’s nominees were recognized at the Vancouver ceremony alongside those nominated by David Eby, Premier of British Columbia.
Three ceremonies:
The coronation medals awards process has been spread across three ceremonies:
- At Government House on July 18, 2024, where 60 recipients were recognized.
- At HMCS Discovery in Vancouver on August 27, 2024.
- A third ceremony will take place in late 2024.
Three premiers:
The August 27 event saw the medal awarded to three recent BC premiers: John Horgan (NDP Premier 2017-2022), Christy Clark (BC Liberal Premier 2011-2017), and Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal Premier 2001-2011), whose profiles were given as:
John Horgan is a long-time public servant and the Ambassador of Canada to Germany since December 2023. Prior to his role as Ambassador, Mr. Horgan had a successful political career representing his constituency in British Columbia’s provincial parliament through five elections from 2005 to 2023. John Horgan was Premier of British Columbia from 2017 to 2022 and leader of the province’s social democratic New Democratic Party from 2014 to 2022.
Christy Clark, BC’s first elected female premier and Canada’s longest-serving woman in this role, transformed British Columbia into Canada’s economic leader for three consecutive years, a feat not seen since the 1960s. Under her leadership, BC went from ninth to first in job creation and maintained an AAA credit rating. Her government went on to achieve five consecutive balanced budgets. Clark’s ambitious vision for the LNG industry in the province culminated in the largest private sector investment in Canadian history.
As Mayor of Vancouver, Gordon Campbell. established innovative social programs and planning initiatives that established the city’s reputation for livability. He served in BC’s Legislative Assembly for 17 years as Leader of the Opposition and Premier, and while Premier, worked to build new relationships with First Nations, hosted British Columbia’s highly successful 2010 Winter Olympic games, and led globally recognized initiatives on climate change while building BC’s reputation as an economic powerhouse and public policy innovator. Gordon later served as Canada’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
Full list of recipients:
The full list of recipients awarded on August 27, 2024 are listed online.
The LG’s list:
The Lieutenant Governor’s office issued this separate list yesterday, noting the recipients that were selected by the LG (listed alphabetically):
- Frank Aigner; Bridgitte Anderson; John Anderson; Assistant deputy warden Pamela Audley
- Kwuntiltunaat, Kim Baird; Robert Bauman; Bernard Beck; Deputy chief conservation officer (retired) Bill Bresser
- Sergio Cocchia; Ken Cretney; Captain Vincent Cui
- Harbhajan Surinder Dhillon; Ajay Dilawri
- Brian Frenkel; Fire Chief Karen Fry; Dr. Henry Fung
- Lieutenant Commander Anne Gardam; Christopher Gaze; Anne Giardini
- Colin Hansen; Superintendent Sheree Haydu; John Horgan; Superintendent Navjeet Hothi
- Superintendent Duane Kempton; Jeremy Kinsman; Chantelle Krish
- Carol Lee; Lily Lee; Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia; Staff sergeant Major Josh Lockwood; Lieutenant (N) Courtney Looye-Pohoney; Deputy warden Adam Lundgren
- Joy MacPhai; Nancy McHarg
- Michael O’Connor
- John Pearkes; Commander G. Bryan Price
- Bob Rennie
- Kyle Sampson; Erin Seeley; Gillian Shaw; Jon Sigurdson; Dr. Geraldine Sinclair; Sandra Singh; Lynn Smith; Colonel Wendy Swan
- Anthony von Mandl; Tamara Vrooman
- Commander (retired) King Wan; Wahiyow Cawapata Scoo, Barbara Ward-Burkitt; Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Watts; Jamie Webb; Faye Wightman; Cathryn Wilson; Dr. Peter Kwok Kuen Wong.
===== RELATED:
- Order of BC awards to 12 recipients in 2024 (August 5, 2024)
- North Island MP Rachel Blaney to award local King Charles III coronation medals (June 11, 2024)
- Coronation Day for older monarch & slimmed-down modernizing monarchy (May 6, 2023)