OTTAWA - Canada's justice minister says it is up to his Conservative caucus colleague Maurice Vellacott to explain why he recommended a Diamond Jubilee medal for a repeat offender jailed for harassing women over abortion.

LifeSiteNews.com, a pro-life advocacy site, says Vellacott used one of his 30 allotted Queen's honours to reward the anti-abortion efforts of Mary Wagner, whose aggressive actions "counselling" women in abortion clinics have repeatedly landed her behind bars.

The Saskatchewan MP also nominated Linda Gibbons, another longtime pro-life advocate and frequent convict on mischief charges.

Wagner, 38, is currently in jail in Toronto awaiting trial after entering a clinic in August -- this following a conviction earlier in the summer for a similar offence last November when she attempted to force her way into a Toronto clinic's private treatment area.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson says it is up to Vellacott to address the matter, but that he personally is very happy to have awarded Diamond Jubilee medals to victims of crime.

Vellacott was quoted by LifeSiteNews comparing Wagner and Gibbons to Martin Luther King for using civil disobedience in a just cause.