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The Senate of Canada Sesquicentennial Medal may have been created to honour “unsung heroes,” but the senate also managed to generously award the decoration to its own.

Of 1,500 medals struck by the Royal Canadian Mint for a cost of $225,000, 47 were awarded to current and former senators. This included Serge Joyal and David Wells, senators who championed the creation of the award.

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It also included a who’s who of Senators caught up in recent scandals over Senate perks, including Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin. The list also counts Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, who in 2014 was found to be in violation of the senate’s code of ethics after he secured his girlfriend a senate job.

Senators and former senators were all automatically eligible to receive the sesquicentennial medal, which is meant to mark the 150th anniversary of the Senate of Canada’s first meeting in November, 1867, four months after the creation of Canada.

Photo by Senate of Canada

However, it was left to each Senator whether or not they would “choose to accept” a medal.

Of the 105 sitting members of the Senate of Canada, 44 opted for a medal, as did three retired senators. A full list of Senators who took the award are included at the end of this article.

An official Senate of Canada statement in July noted that the medals are intended for those who “through generosity, dedication, volunteerism and hard work” make Canada “a better place.”

Nominations were made throughout the summer by 70 senators who signed up to distribute the medals.

It’s those remaining 1453 medals that do indeed seem to be finding their way into the hands of unsung heroes.