A representative from the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General declined to comment on specific details but emphasized that termination decisions are made based on evidence and fairness.
Since the Order’s inception in 1967, more than 7,600 people have been honored, but only eight terminations have occurred.
Music and Activism
Sainte-Marie, who turns 84 on February 20, has been a prominent musician and activist for six decades. She has released 16 studio albums, often addressing themes of war and Indigenous rights. Her most recent album, Medicine Songs (2017), features both new and re-recorded tracks.
Over the years, her biography has stated that she was born on the Piapot Cree First Nations Reserve in Qu’Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan.
Her 2018 authorized biography suggested she was likely born Cree, and her website once claimed she was “believed to have been born in 1941 on the Piapot First Nation reserve in Saskatchewan and taken from her biological parents when she was an infant.”
