Conrad Black stripped of the Order of Canada

Media baron Conrad Black  has been stripped of the Order of Canada.

In a statement released late Friday, Governor General David Johnston said he has accepted a recommendation by the Advisory Council for the Order of Canada to “terminate Mr. Conrad Black’s appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada.”

Johnston has also accepted a recommendation from the Prime Minister to remove Black from The Queen’s Privy Council for Canada.

The statement said both decisions are “effective immediately.”

“The Advisory Council first wrote to Conrad Black in July 2011, informing him that his appointment to the Order of Canada would be reviewed,” Marie-Pierre Belanger, a spokesperson for the Governor General, said in an email. “Mr. Black subsequently challenged several elements of the review process. The Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal have now affirmed that the review process has been fair and transparent.”

READ MORE: Conrad Black owes taxes on income and benefits in residency dispute

Last November, Black made an application to personally address the advisory council weighing the decision to strip him of the Order of Canada, but it was dismissed by the Federal Court of Appeal.

Belanger said Friday’s announcement means Black can no longer attach the initials identifying his rank as as Officer (O.C.) of the Order. Black will also be required to return his insignia of the order.

Black served 37 months in a Florida prison for convictions of fraud and obstruction of justice relating to his time as the head of media giant Hollinger.

In 2001 Black renounced Canadian citizenship in 2001 so he could accept a peerage in the British House of Lords.

Black, who currently resides in Toronto, is a columnist with the National Post and co-hosts a talk show on Vision TV.

He made headlines in December for an interview with Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who insinuated Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale was a pedophile. At the time, Black said it wasn’t his job to fact-check his interview subjects.

Other Canadians who have been stripped of the Order of Canada include Alan Eagleson, David Ahenakew, T. Sher Singh, Stephen Fonyo Jr. and Garth Drabinsky.