Online petitions launched to remove former Dragons' Den investor from Order of Canada advisory council

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      Last weekend, the Straight  posted an article that ignited a tremendous reaction from readers.

      It concerned a tweet by W. Brett Wilson, a Calgary multimillionaire, part-owner of the Nashville Predators, and former panellist on the CBC show Dragons' Den.

      He suggested that money be raised to pay a couple of B.C. NDP MLAs to cross the floor and bring down John Horgan's minority government.

      After the Straight article appeared, Wilson emphasized that his tweet was a joke and he left the impression that anyone who didn't realize that was pretty stupid.

      But some people are still not amused by Wilson's brand of humour.

      And they're signing an online petition on change.org calling on Governor General Julie Payette to remove him from the Order of Canada advisory council.

      According to the GG's website, this council reviews nominations for the Order of Canada and is chaired by the chief justice of Canada, Richard Wagner.

      "The chair’s role is to manage the meeting and the deliberations, so that members of the Advisory Council may give their views on individual cases before a vote is called," the website states. "The practice of the chair is not to vote or to take a position for or against nominations, except on the rare occurrence of a tied vote."

      Others on the 13-member advisory council include former prime minister Jean Chrétien's daughter France, former Tsawwassen First Nation chief Kim Baird, and the chair of the privy council, Michael Wernick.

      As of this writing, the change.org petition has collected 257 names.

      Another petition on the Leadnow website has 53 names.

      It reminds Payette that Wilson once tweeted about hanging people for treason for their opposition to pipelines.

      "Out of respect for our public institutions and civic orders of merit such as the Order of Canada we now call on you, on behalf of all Canadians, to please remove Brett Wilson from the Order of Canada Advisory Council for his continued un-democratic and un-civil comments inciting violence against Canadians and undermining democratic institutions in our country," wrote Leadnow petition author Wes Regan.

      Regan was a candidate for the Green party in the last federal election.

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