Harper gets Ukraine top honour

OTTAWA – Former prime minister Stephen Harper has been awarded one of Ukraine’s highest honours. Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko granted the Order of Liberty to Harper to mark the 25th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence this week. Past recipients of the award, which recognizes contributions towards strengthening Ukraine’s sovereignty, include top diplomats of NATO and the European Commission. Harper led the charge to have Russia booted out of the G8 following that country’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.