Queen's honour most baffling

It's safe to say that there are probably a few people scratching their heads, wondering how former prime minister Jean Chretien could be named to a top British honour, the Order of Merit.

He is the third Canadian to join the order, after fellow former prime ministers William Lyon MacKenzie King and Lester B. Pearson. Other international figures include the likes of Albert Schweitzer, Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela.

Pearson was a deserving recipient. He basically invented the idea of the neutral United Nations peacekeeper. He transformed Canada on the international stage and gave us a prominence that no leader has since been even slightly capable of matching.

Mother Teresa spent a lifetime toiling for the betterment of impoverished peoples in India, and Mandela's battle against apartheid ranks as one of the gripping tales of human conviction of the last century.

It is hard to argue against accolades for any of these individuals.

Meanwhile, Chretien was responsible for transforming the Prime Ministers' Office into a closed-door, central point of power. Yet despite this, he apparently didn't know about one of the most contentious and well-orchestrated scandals of Canadian history.

Chretien gained notoriety for assaulting a member of the public - on television no less -and wanted the RCMP to pepper spray a group of relatively benign protesters. He laboured actively to ensure that his potential rivals were either destroyed entirely (Sheila Copps) or so handicapped as to be irrelevant (Paul Martin).

Most Canadians will associate Chretien with the Gomery Inquiry and Shawinigate. His legacy, to a large degree, is the current series of minority governments and the resulting lack of convincing leadership in a time of financial challenges.

We're not certain as to the reasoning used by Queen Elizabeth in bestowing this honour. We can only surmise that the award criteria, in addition to the cited "long, distinguished political career," was Chretien's dedication to federalism. That his dedication benefited countless party faithful, it seems, was overlooked.

One thing is sure: it's obvious the Queen and her advisors have little grasp of Canadian political history.