Member of the Order of Canada
- Awarded on: December 14, 1981
- Invested on: April 21, 1982
A stimulating professor of English at the University of New Brunswick, he has been a force in Canadian letters over many years, an accomplished poet and translator from the French, he edited The Fiddlehead, Canada's longest running magazine of creative writing, and has published Fiddlehead Poetry Books since 1960. For his promotion of new talent and of understanding between Canada's two linguistic groups.