Skip to content

Banff Centre CEO Janice Price earns Platinum Jubilee Medal

“It felt poignant when the Queen passed. I would have been sad in any case, but really it made it feel even more special. It made it feel really special, and an honour and humbling.”

BANFF – Janice Price, president and CEO of Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, was awarded the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal – just six days before Britain's longest serving monarch died.

For Price, the recognition was quite the surprise and came with very little notice.

“I got an e-mail while I was travelling on Banff Centre business to the Stratford Festival in Ontario,” Price said. “I had a week’s notice to receive the Platinum Jubilee Medal. It was a week to the day before that I knew, and I was able to go to Calgary.”

At the ceremony, which was held on Sept. 2, was Lt. Governor Salma Lakhani and Premier Jason Kenney. Price was one of 22 Albertans presented with the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal that day.

“We were the first cohort to receive the medal in Calgary from the Lt. Governor and the only time they would have the Lt. Governor and our premier there,” Price said. “That felt extra special for me as well.”

The award held extra importance for Price following the death of Queen Elizabeth II only six days later on Sept 8 at the age of 96.

“It felt poignant when the Queen passed,” Price said. “I would have been sad in any case, but really it made it feel even more special. It made it feel really special, and an honour and humbling.”

The medal also comes in Price’s last year as CEO of Banff Centre, with her eight years at the helm of the organization coming to an end in March of 2023.

“I have had an over 40-year career in this field and in my last year, working here, it felt like a wonderful and timely acknowledgement,” Price said.

While various Jubilee Medals will be awarded for some time yet, the chances of another Platinum Jubilee Medal being awarded are remote to say the least.

The medal is awarded on the 70th anniversary of a coronation. Queen Elizabeth II was the first British monarch to reach that milestone. For another Platinum Jubilee medal to be awarded, it could be a long wait of at least a century or two.

“They do have a long-lived family and good genes, apparently. Nonetheless, it is hard to believe, but you never know, King Charles III could celebrate a Silver Jubilee,” Price said. “It will be some time before we see another, if ever, Platinum Jubilee. This may be a one-of-a-kind for a number of reasons in the future.”

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks