INTERPRETATION
1. The definitions in this section apply in this Constitution.
"Committee" means the Advisory Committee established by section 7 (1). (Conseil)
"Order" means the Order of Merit of the Police Forces. (Ordre)
"police force" means a police force established in Canada by or under an Act of Parliament or an Act of the legislature of a province. (corps policier)
COMPOSITION
2. The Order shall consist of Her Majesty in right of Canada, the Chancellor and the Commanders, Officers and Members and the honorary Commanders, Officers and Members.
3.(1) The Governor General of Canada is the Chancellor and a Commander of the Order.
(2) The Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is the Principal Commander of the Order.
(3) At the end of their respective terms of office, the Governor General ceases to be Chancellor and the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ceases to be Principal Commander but they shall continue to be Commanders of the Order.
ADMINISTRATION
4. The Chancellor is responsible for the administration of the Order.
5. The Secretary to the Governor General is the Secretary General of the Order and shall maintain the records of the Order and of the Committee, arrange for investitures and performs any other functions in respect of the Order that the Governor General may request.
6. (1) The Governor General may appoint any other officials that the Governor General considers necessary for the administration of the Order.
(2) A person does not belong to the Order by reason only of being an official of the Order or a member of the Committee.
COMMITTEE
7. (1) There shall be an Advisory Committee for the Order consisting of the following members:
(a) the President of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, who shall be the Chairperson of the Committee;
(b) a Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police;
(c) one person who is the head of a provincial police force;
(d) three persons each of whom is the chief of police of a municipal or regional police force;
(e) the President of the Canadian Police Association;
(f) the Deputy Secretary of the Chancellery, Office of the Secretary to the Governor General; and
(g) two members appointed under paragraph (2) (b).
(2) The Governor General shall:
(a) appoint each of the persons specified in paragraphs (1) (b), (c) and (d) for a term of two years, which term is renewable; and
(b) appoint, on the recommendation of the members of the Committee referred to in paragraphs (1) (a) to (f), as members referred to in paragraph (1) (g),two persons who are associated with police forces, which appointment is for a term of three years and is renewable for a further two years.
8. The Committee shall:
(a) perform the duties referred to in subsections 10(2) and (3); and
(b) advise the Governor General on any other matters that may be referred to it.
ELIGIBILITY
9. (1) The only persons who are eligible to be appointed as Commanders, Officers and Members of the Order are Canadian citizens and members or employees of a police force.
(2) In any year, the Governor General may appoint as Commanders, Officers and Members of the Order a number of eligible persons that does not exceed one tenth of one per cent of the average number of persons who were members and employees of police forces during the immediately preceding year.
NOMINATIONS
10. (1) Any person may submit the name of a member or an employee of a police force to the person responsible for that police force as a nomination for appointment to the Order.
(2) The nominations that have the greatest merit, in the opinion of the responsible person referred to in subsection (1), shall be submitted to the Committee for consideration for appointment to the Order.
(3) The Committee shall recommend to the Governor General the nominees that the Committee considers as having the greatest merit in each category.
CATEGORIES OF MEMBERSHIP
COMMANDERS OF THE ORDER
11. Appointments as Commanders of the Order shall be made for outstanding meritorious service and demonstrated leadership in duties of great responsibility over an extended period.
12. In any year, the Governor General may appoint as Commanders a number of eligible persons that does not exceed six per cent of the total number of persons that may, under subsection 9 (2), be appointed to all categories of membership in the Order in that year.
OFFICERS OF THE ORDER
13. Appointments as Officers of the Order shall be made for outstanding meritorious service in duties of responsibility over an extended period.
14. In any year, the Governor General may appoint as Officers of the Order, a number of eligible persons that does not exceed thirty per cent of the total number of persons that may, under subsection 9 (2), be appointed to all categories of membership in the Order in that year.
MEMBERS OF THE ORDER
15. Appointments as Members of the Order shall be made for exceptional service or performance of duty over an extended period.
16.In any year, the Governor General may appoint as Members of the Order, a number of eligible persons that does not exceed the difference between:
(a) the total number of persons that may, under subsection 9 (2), be appointed to all categories of membership in the Order in that year, and
(b) the aggregate of the number of persons appointed as Commanders and Officers in that year.
HONORARY COMMANDERS, OFFICERS AND MEMBERS
17. (1) Persons who are not Canadian citizens and who are members or employees of a police service of a country other than Canada are eligible to be appointed as honorary Commanders, Officers and Members of the Order.
(2) In any year, the Governor General may appoint only one person as honorary Commander, Officer or Member.
APPOINTMENTS
18. Appointments as Commanders, Officers and Members and honorary Commanders, Officers and Members of the Order shall be made by instrument signed by the Governor General and sealed with the Seal of the Order and have effect as of the day the seal is affixed, unless another day is specified in the instrument.
SUBSEQUENT APPOINTMENTS
19. (1) The Governor General may:
(a) elevate a Member of the Order, with the Member's consent, to the rank of Officer or Commander of the Order; and
(b) elevate an Officer of the Order, with the Officer's consent, to the rank of Commander of the Order.
(2) A person elevated to a higher rank in the Order is entitled to wear the insignia of that rank and to place the letters associated with that rank after the person's name.
(3) No person shall:
(a) hold more than one rank in the Order at a time; or
(b) place after the person's name the letters or retain the insignia pertaining to the previous rank in the Order.
DESIGNATIONS AND INSIGNIA
20. Commanders, Officers and Members of the Order may:
(a) wear any insignia that may be prescribed in the ordinances of the Order; and
(b) place after their name the letters associated with their rank, namely,
(i)"C.O.M.", in the case of a Commander,
(ii) "O.O.M.", in the case of an Officer, and
(iii)"M.O.M.", in the case of a Member.
21. The insignia of the Order shall be worn in the sequence prescribed and in the same manner described in publications issued by the Chancellery.
22. (1) Except as otherwise provided in an ordinance of the Order, the insignia of the Order shall remain the property of the Order.
(2) When a person ceases, other than by death, to belong to the Order, the person shall immediately return the insignia to the Secretary General of the Order.
TERMINATION OF MEMBERSHIP IN THE ORDER
23. A person's membership in the Order ceases when:
(a) the person dies;
(b) the Governor General accepts the person's resignation from the Order, which resignation must be made in writing and given to the Secretary General of the Order; or
(c) the Governor General makes an ordinance terminating the person's membership in the Order.
ORDINANCES
24. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Governor General may make ordinances respecting the administration and insignia of the Order and the termination of a person's membership in the Order.
(2) No ordinance shall be made that is inconsistent with this Constitution.
SEAL
25. (1) The Seal of the Order, an impression of which is set out in the schedule, shall be committed to the custody of the Governor General.
(2) No appointment or ordinance shall have effect unless it has been sealed with the Seal of the Order.