Steve Fonyo raised $13 million for cancer research in 1985 by running 7,200 km across Canada on one leg. He was presented with the Order of Canada shortly afterward in honour of his achievements, becoming the youngest person ever to receive the award at the time.

This week, Fonyo's Order was revoked due to his repeated run-ins with the law for crimes including assault, theft and impaired driving.

In the years since his run, Fonyo has battled depression and alcoholism, and has spent some time in jail. On the surface, it’s understandable how Fonyo could have fallen into this tailspin. When he began his run in 1984, many openly criticized Fonyo for trying to ride Terry Fox’s coattails to fame. But by completing the cross-Canada trek and raising millions for cancer research, Fonyo achieved two things by the age of 20 that most of us won’t likely do in our lifetimes. And despite the early criticisms, he became a media darling by the end of his run. It isn’t hard to see that Fonyo might spend the rest of his life struggling against the expectations of that early success and fame.

But of course, that’s beside the point here. What matters is that the Order of Canada is given to individuals whose actions have helped advance Canada and its people, and that Order can be removed if a recipient doesn’t uphold a lifestyle that befits such an honour.

Only three Order recipients have lost their titles:

1. Alan Eagleson: Eagleson was granted the Order in 1989 for his work promoting hockey around the world. He became the first person to have the Order revoked, in 1998, after being disbarred from practicing law and being sentenced to 18 months in jail for stealing millions of dollars from Hockey Canada, and from several former NHL players who he represented as an agent and as head of the NHL Players Association.
2. David Ahenakew: First Nations politician Ahenakew was granted the Order in 1978 for his work focused on the rights of Canadian aboriginal peoples. He lost the Order in 2005, after being convicted of promoting hatred for anti-Semitic comments he made in the media. Ahenakew’s conviction was overturned on appeal in 2009, with the judge ruling that while his comments were “revolting, disgusting and untrue,” they were not intended to incite hatred.
3. T. Sher Singh: Singh was granted the Order in 2001, in honour of his “vast record of public service” and his work helping to promote harmony among different races. He lost his Order in 2008, after his license to practice law in Canada was revoked for professional misconduct amidst allegations of failing to serve clients and misappropriation of clients’ money.

The Order can be revoked for conduct that goes against “generally-recognized standards of public behaviour which is seen to undermine the credibility, integrity or relevance of the Order, or detracts from the original grounds upon which the appointment was based.” By this logic, Eagleson surely deserved his fate, considering his crimes related directly to the activities he was honoured for. Singh, too. (While you could make that argument for Ahenakew as well, the counter-argument would theoretically be that because he was eventually acquitted, his Order should be reinstated).

But it hardly seems fair that Fonyo – whose achievements as a 20-year-old helped countless Canadians and happened years before his completely unrelated legal problems – should lose his Order.

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