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Langley’s St. Germain receives Order of British Columbia

Gerald ‘Gerry’ St. Germain had to take off his cowboy hat to receive the award
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Former Langley Senator Gerry St. Germain is among 14 people named to the order of B.C., the province’s highest form of recognition. (file)

Langley’s Gerry St. Germain is one of the latest people given the province’s highest honour, the Order of British Columbia.

St. Germain, a retired Canadian senator, former federal cabinet minister and MP, VPD officer, and RCAF pilot, was given the award by Premier David Eby at Government House in Victoria on Dec. 1.

The son of Métis trapper, he would manage to escape from the residential school system by getting a scholarship, thanks to his skill with math and science, to a special school.

First elected to Ottawa in 1983, St. Germain would go on to serve as Minister of Transportation and Minister of Forestry, the first self-identified Métis person to sit at the federal cabinet table.

Over a decade in Parliament, he would help establish Canada’s anti-apartheid policy for South Africa, oversee the establishment of the TRIUMF science facility at UBC, and the conservation of the Haida Gwaii National Park.

Appointed to the senate in 1993, he would serve until 2012.

“He was the chair of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Indigenous Peoples, where he introduced legislation on self-government and issued many reports on resolving land claims, assisting Indigenous businesses with economic development, band elections, heritage sites and safe drinking water in Indigenous communities,” according to the provincial government’s announcement of his honour. “A strong advocate of education from his mathematics days, he was instrumental in achieving a formal residential school apology from the Government of Canada to open the future for Indigenous youth.”

St. Germain has been a longtime Langley resident.

St. Germain was one of 14 people honoured with the Order of British Columbia this year.

Others named to the order include Dr. Nadine Rena Caron of Prince George, Kúkpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir of Kamloops, Nezhat Khosrowshahi of Vancouver, Kathy Kinloch of Surrey, Joy MacPhail, CM, of Vancouver, Fred Ting Shek Mah of Vancouver, Harinder Mahil of Coquitlam, Maureen Maloney, QC, of Victoria, Geoff Plant, QC, of Vancouver, Christine Sinclair, OC, of Portland, Ore., Paul Spong of Alert Bay, Jody Wilson-Raybould, PC, QC, of Quathiaski Cove and Bruce Munro Wright of Vancouver.


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