Controversial BC priest renounces Order of Canada after Morgentaler honoured

Father Lucien Larre was named to the Order of Canada in 1983 for founding the Bosco Centres for troubled youth. Larre admitted Thursday that he later had two criminal convictions that he says stemmed from that work.

The Catholic priest said he knew he would face questions about his past if he spoke up about Morgentaler being named to the order, but he said he had little choice.

"The purpose of the Order of Canada is to bring unity among people, to bring people together," said Larre, who has sent his medal back to Ottawa and has taken down a framed replica that was hanging in his office at a youth centre.

"When it was given to Dr. Morgentaler, instead of bringing people together, it helped divide people."

Morgentaler, 85, is set to be named to the Order of Canada for his fight to the Supreme Court that struck down the country's abortion laws 20 years ago.

Larre's own controversy surfaced after he was named to the order, but before procedures were introduced in 1996 to remove members with criminal convictions.

He was convicted in Saskatchewan of assault and administering a noxious substance - convictions he said related to the high-risk youth he worked with. He said he later applied for and received pardons for both crimes.

People with criminal convictions can apply to the National Parole Board for a pardon once they've completed their sentences and demonstrated they are law-abiding citizens.

Larre said the assault charge stemmed from 1974, when he slapped a 19-year-old woman who was abusing drugs and breaking the law. Fifteen years later, he was charged.

He said the other charge arose after he and a nurse pressured three teens to ingest a handful of unidentified vitamins, sugar pills and placebos in an effort to teach them a lesson about taking drugs.

And Larre spoke candidly Thursday about sexual abuse allegations that arose against him when he worked in Regina many years ago, saying they were false allegations for which he was acquitted.

"No matter where I go or what I do they say, 'Oh, that's the guy who used to abuse the children in Regina,"' he said, adding that he knew his past would surface if he spoke up.

"But I thought, I have to do it anyway."

Membership in the order now ceases when people resign, when they die or when they are removed for criminal convictions or inappropriate conduct.

The latter has only ever happened twice: Alan Eagleson was stripped of his title in 1998 after he was convicted of fraud and aboriginal leader David Ahenakew had the honour rescinded in 2005, after he was convicted of promoting hate. The conviction has since been overturned and Ahenakew faces a new trial.

A spokeswoman for Rideau Hall said the policy was not retroactive.

Larre said he isn't sure what the process is to officially resign from the order, but he said he expects his name will be removed from any official databases.

Meanwhile, the Canada Family Action Coalition sent a formal request to the Governor General on Thursday to reverse Morgentaler's appointment, saying the rules surrounding inappropriate conduct should apply.

The Vancouver archdiocese urged those opposed to Morgentaler's appointment to write to the Governor General.

The appointment has garnered a similar reaction from Catholic officials across the country, though the man who fought the country's abortion laws all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada and who spent 10 months in prison for performing abortions before that expressed surprise that opposition has not been "more violent."

"I think it's a sign of recognition for all the work that I've done over the years and the sacrifices I've borne and the unjust sentence of imprisonment that I suffered," he said.