Where is Canada’s Polar Medal?
The
establishment of the
Governor- General’s Northern Medal by Adrienne Clarkson is a lovely gesture, one that will serve to perpetuate the emphasis Mme. Clarkson placed during her term of office on Canada’s North. At a speech several years ago to the Canadian Club in Ottawa, Mme. Clarkson said that we should “glory” in the North, and the announcement made by Rideau Hall will in a small way help to do just that. However, it is no substitute for a Canadian Polar Medal, which should be instituted as part of Canada’s national honours system.
The United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Australia both have Polar Medals as part of their honours systems. There is a great historical tradition behind it. Indeed, the British medal (complete with white ribbon) has been presented for service in the Canadian Arctic since the 1800s. Awards were made to the men engaged in the search to discover the fate of the expedition commanded by Sir John Franklin, which ended disastrously while looking for the Northwest Passage. A second Arctic Medal was sanctioned for the crews of the Nares expedition, which explored Ellesmere Island in 1875- 76.
In 1904, Britain instituted the modern Polar Medal for members of Captain Robert F. Scott’s first expedition to the Antarctic. Medals were also awarded to members of Ernest Shackleton’s expedition.
Hundreds of the medals have since been handed out, including in 1943 to Insp. Henry Larsen and those aboard the RCMP schooner St. Roch. Another Canadian, Panipakuttuk, received the medal posthumously in 1974. The Polar Medal has also been awarded to employees of the Hudson’s Bay Co.
Australia, which formerly awarded Britain’s Polar Medal, has since 1987 presented its own Antarctic Service Medal ( which has a white ribbon with blue edges). Russia has an Arctic Region Medal. Even the United States has an Antarctica Service Medal, awarded to both civilian and military personnel engaged in research or support work on that continent. Canada, a nation largely defined by its polar regions, should surely have a similar honour.
While the Governor- General currently presents the Royal Canadian Geographical Society’s Massey Medal, sometimes for contributions to the North, and will now bestow the GovernorGeneral’s Northern Medal to one deserving recipient annually, it is not enough. The Governor- General’s Northern Medal is a commemorative medallion. It cannot be worn, but is designed for table display. While it will certainly become a great honour, it is by definition an honour confined to a tiny elite. Even membership in the medallion’s advisory committee is restricted to aboriginals and representatives of select northern communities.
A Polar Medal, by contrast, could be awarded more broadly to deserving Canadians, and for a wider variety of contributions, not only to those who have contributed to the geographic exploration of the Arctic and subArctic regions of Canada, or for contributions to scientific and social scientific endeavour in the North, but for its economic development, and exceptional cultural contributions. Deserving representatives of the people of the North themselves should obviously be prominent among those who receive the medal. Examples of prospective recipients abound, a list that might be headed by someone like artist Kenojuak Ashevak or filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk. But it should not either be an award granted solely on the basis of racial origin or place of residence. There are many southerners in Canada who have made important contributions to the North as well, and they too should be celebrated.
Mme. Clarkson has correctly said that the denial of the North is a form of self-contempt. As the pull of the South becomes more and more pronounced, every reminder of what she termed this “vision of the imagination” needs to be encouraged. What better way to honour Mme. Clarkson’s contribution, and the forthcoming International Polar Year, than to give Canadians their own Polar Medal.