Meritorious Service Medal

• Awarded on: November 15, 2001
• Invested on: September 27, 2002

Pierre Michel Allard, M.S.M., Hull, Que.
Meritorious Service Medal (civil division)

One of Canada’s foremost advocates of the restorative justice movement, Reverend Dr. Pierre Allard, a prison chaplain, has created innovative support networks bringing communities, offenders and victims together to discuss the individual and community impact of crime and to assist in offenders’ adjustment to life in the outside world. As part of this initiative, he was the driving force behind the 1985 opening of Spring House, a hospitality home near the Nova Scotia Springhill Institution that provides lodging to inmates’ families at a minimal cost. He also played a pivotal role as a member of a team of professors who developed and established the first course of study in correctional ministries at Queen’s University in 1998. Through personal involvement, Reverend Allard has positively influenced the criminal justice system in one of society’s most challenging environments.