Dwight MacAulay

Protocol, Who Needs It?

Bio

Dwight MacAulay is the Chief of Protocol for the Government of Manitoba and has also served as the Chief of Protocol for the Government of South Australia from 2006-08.

Since joining the Manitoba Government in 1980 he has served as Director of Radio and Television Services and Director of Information Services which handled all government news releases, news conferences and radio and television services.  In addition, he was also Director of the Citizens’ Inquiry Services, a public information easy-access service.

In 1998 he was selected to be the Chief of Protocol for the Government of Manitoba.  As Chief of Protocol he has organized and worked on several Royal Visits – including those of Her Majesty The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, The Duchess of York (Sarah Ferguson) and several additional members of The Royal Family including Lord and Lady Selkirk, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and also a Royal Visit by the King and Queen of Sweden.

He has also played a key organizational role with respect to many premiers’ conferences and ministerial conferences and has played a key planning, organizational and implementation role on several international trade missions to such nations as the United States, China, Philippines, India, Iceland, France, England, Belgium and Australia.

On October 9, 2002, he was invested as a Lieutenant in the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) by Her Majesty The Queen when she visited Manitoba as part of the Golden Jubilee Visit to Canada.  Dwight was, and is, the only person in the history of the province to ever receive this honour.

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order  (CVO)Eight years later, on July 3, 2010, The Queen elevated Dwight to the position of Commander of the Royal Victorian Order  (CVO) — once again making him the only Manitoban to ever receive such an honour. The CVO is the highest possible rank attainable in Canada in the Royal Victorian Order.

In the summer of 2010, Dwight was asked to serve on a national committee to map-out and coordinate Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012 and he also co-chaired the Manitoba provincial strategy and response for the Jubilee celebrations.

In addition, Dwight has played a role in other events such as the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the Selkirk Settlers and securing debris from the World Trade Centre in New York City in order to establish a 9-11 Memorial at the International Peace Garden.  He was also instrumental in securing an unprecedented three-month loan of The Magna Carta from Oxford University in England for display in the Manitoba Legislative Building in 2010.

As Chief of Protocol, Dwight serves as Secretary to the Order of Manitoba Advisory Council (Manitoba’s highest honour) and is a key advisor to the Premier with respect to The Order of the Buffalo Hunt (another honour frequently awarded to international guests or visitors to the province who would not qualify for the Order of Manitoba).

In October 2012 he was selected to serve as a presiding officer for Canadian Citizenship Courts and has held over 40 such ceremonies, swearing in over three thousand new Canadian citizens.

Dwight is also the President of the Winnipeg Press Club (the oldest Press Club in Canada, and third oldest in the world), and Vice President of the Manitoba Chapter of the Royal Commonwealth Society. He also serves on a number of  boards and plays an active support role in many community-based organizations and initiatives.

In November 2013 he received the Toastmasters International Communication and Leadership Award and a year later, in November 2014, was honoured as the Citizen of the Year by the Manitoba chapter of the St. Andrew’s Society.