[LINK] "Conrad Black loses bid to address Order of Canada review body"

[rfmcdonald]

I fear I might be too happy by items describing an ongoing downward arc to convicted British felon Conrad Black's life, for instance CBC News' coverage of the decision that his request to explain to the court why he shouldn't be expelled from the Order of Canada for his criminal behaviour. The man behaved disreputably for years, in the end renouncing Canadian citizenship so he could claim the status of a British lord (and denouncing Canada in the bargain), and was sent to jail as a direct result of his arrogance. I don't want a man such as he to retain the highest national honour Canada can give. If it makes him unhappy, well, he should have thought of that earlier.

Former media baron Conrad Black's request to Federal Court for a hearing before a panel examining whether he should be allowed to remain an officer of the Order of Canada has been rejected.

Black's 1990 appointment to the Order of Canada is under review because of fraud and obstruction of justice convictions in the U.S. related to his tenure as head of the Hollinger newspaper empire.

[. . .]

In July, Black submitted an application to the Federal Court for an oral hearing to address the advisory council looking into whether he can keep his Officer of the Order of Canada appointment, and give his side of the story.

The Federal Court "reached the conclusion that the application ought to be dismissed," Justice Yves de Montigny wrote in a ruling this month.

"While I am prepared to accept that the application is not premature and that the council’s decision to deny the applicant an oral hearing is not immune from judicial review, I find that procedural fairness and natural justice do not require an oral hearing in the circumstances of this case," he wrote.

Black was found guilty by a U.S. jury in 2007 of three counts of fraud and one count of obstruction of justice, but he was acquitted on nine other charges, including mail fraud, wire fraud, racketeering and tax fraud.

An Appeals Court later overturned two of his fraud convictions, but allowed a single fraud conviction and the obstruction of justice conviction to stand.

The regulations say the council shall consider "the termination of a person's appointment to the Order of Canada if the person has been convicted of a criminal offence."