Order of New Brunswick

The Order of New Brunswick is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The order was instituted through the Order of New Brunswick Act, which was granted royal assent on 20 December 2000 by Lieutenant Governor Marilyn Trenholme Counsell. The order is administered by the Governor-in-Council, and is intended to honour current or former New Brunswick residents who have demonstrated a high level of individual excellence and achievement. The order is described as the highest honour amongst all those conferred by the New Brunswick Crown.

Eligibility and appointment

The Order of New Brunswick is intended to honour any current or former longtime resident of New Brunswick who has "demonstrated excellence and achievement and who have made outstanding contributions to the social, cultural or economic well-being of New Brunswick and its residents." There are no limits on how many can belong to the order, though inductions are limited to five per year; Canadian citizenship is a requirement, and those who are elected or appointed members of a governmental body are ineligible as long as they hold office.

The process of finding qualified individuals begins with submissions from the public to the Order of New Brunswick Advisory Council, which consists of the Chief Justice of New Brunswick, the Clerk of the Executive Council, the president of a Crown-funded university in the province, each serving on a rotating basis; and between three and five members of the Order of New Brunswick, one of whom serves as the chairperson of the council. This committee then meets at least once annually to make its selected recommendations to the lieutenant governor; posthumous nominations are not accepted, though an individual who dies after his or her name was submitted to the Advisory Council can still be retroactively made a Member of the Order of New Brunswick. The lieutenant governor, ex officio a Member and the Chancellor of the Order of New Brunswick, then makes all appointments into the fellowship's single grade of membership by an Order in Council that bears the viceroyal sign-manual and the Great Seal of the province; thereafter, the new Members are entitled to use the post-nominal letters ONB.

Insignia

Upon admission into the Order of New Brunswick, the lieutenant governor presents the order's insignia to the recipient in a formal ceremony at Government House in Fredericton. The insignia consists of a badge in the form of a stylized violet, the official provincial flower. The obverse of the badge is enamelled in deep blue, bearing at its centre the escutcheon of the arms of New Brunswick, all surmounted by a Royal Crown. The reverse of the badge features a three-digit number. The 38mm ribbon is patterned with vertical stripes in blue, red, and gold; the badge is attached to the ribbon via a 21mm gold loop. Members of the order also receive a lapel pin featuring a miniature version of the insignia.

Inductees

This is a partial list of notable members of the Order of New Brunswick:

Molly Lamb Bobak , printmaker and painter, appointed 2002
Richard Hatfield , Premier of New Brunswick, posthumously appointed 2002
Harrison McCain , businessman, appointed 2002
Louis Robichaud , Premier of New Brunswick, appointed 2002
Kenneth Colin Irving , businessman and industrialist, posthumously appointed 2003
Wallace McCain , businessman, appointed 2003
Brenda Robertson , politician and Senator, appointed 2004
Gordon Fairweather , lawyer and politician, appointed 2005
Antonine Maillet , novelist and playwright, appointed 2005
David Adams Richards , novelist, essayist, and screenwriter, appointed 2005
Viola Léger , actress and Senator, appointed 2007
James K. Irving , businessman and conservationist, appointed 2008
Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook PC, businessman, politician in United Kingdom, benefactor, posthumously appointed 2011
Calixte Duguay , singer/songwriter, appointed 2012
Raymond Fraser , author, appointed 2012
Arthur Irving , industrialist, appointed 2012
Ron Turcotte , jockey, appointed 2012
Abraham Beverley Walker , lawyer, appointed posthumously 2019
Ralph Thomas , activist, appointed 2021
Bud Bird , businessman and politician, appointed 2023