It's official. Ron Schinners is not a Nobel laureate

Sorry, Ron Schinners.

You're not a Nobel laureate and you shouldn't be making that claim in your campaign for the mayoralty of Sault Ste. Marie.

That's the very-official word this morning from the Norwegian Nobel Institute, which has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize annually since 1901 under the auspices of the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm.

"When we award the Nobel Peace Prize to an organization, we do not refer to its individual members as laureates," SooToday.com was advised at 3:19 a.m. this morning by Dag Kühle-Gotovac, head of administration at the Norwegian Nobel Institute.

In his current mayoral campaign and previous unsuccessful campaigns for Ward 6 councillor in 2003 and 2006, Schinners has repeatedly referred to himself as a "recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peacekeeping in 1988."

His claim is based on his 25-year naval career, culminating in the rank of master seaman. Schinners says he was part of a United Nations emergency force deployed to Egypt in 1974.

The 1988 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces.

But can all of the 500,000 young men and women from 58 countries who served as "Blue Helmet" peacekeepers appropriately style themselves as Nobel recipients?

On Wednesday, SooToday.com asked our readers to indicate in a poll whether they believed Schinners' claim.

The poll question drew an angry response from Grace, a regular contributor to SooToday.com's News Response forum.

"So what's the point?" Grace demanded. "What kind of a B.S. question is that? Have any of the reporting staff gone out to Schinners and asked for verification of his claim?? I'm sure he would be happy to show everyone. So is this more of a case of a news service leaning more to one candidate over another or just plain lack of journalistic integrity?"

In fact, SooToday.com had contacted Schinners about the claim as early as 2003, and published his explanation.

Schinners contacted us directly yesterday, again claiming to be "a proud peacekeeping veteran and Nobel laureate," asking us to refer our readers to a declaration by the Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association - a private organization that has unsuccessfully lobbied the Canadian government for official recognition "for our veteran Nobel laureates."

The private veterans group has made unofficial Nobel Peace Prize certificates available to its members, and advised them of the availability of commemorative medals available from "companies who manufacture them... to turn a profit, not to honour you particularly."

"The Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association does not sanction nor condone the purchase and wearing of private commemorative medals by its members," the group cautioned.

"CPVA members should exercise judgment regarding the sentimental value of these unofficial commemoratives versus the greater value of the official service decorations which they wear. These medals are not recognized by the government of Canada and are not listed in the official order of precedence. Members are hereby advised that such commemorative devices are to be worn over the right breast only and may not be juxtaposed with official service medals."

Neither the Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association nor private companies that manufacture unauthorized military medals are authorized to say who is, or isn't, a Nobel prize recipient.

Yesterday, as a direct result of prodding from Grace and Schinners, SooToday.com decided to consult with Nobel officials in both Oslo and Stockholm on the veracity of the Schinners claim.

At 4:21 a.m. today, we heard officially from Jonna Petterson, public relations officer at the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm.

"No, people who are, or have been part of, or employees of, a Nobel Prize-awarded organization may not call themselves Nobel laureates," Petterson told us.

At 6:05 a.m., we received further confirmation from Merci Ollson, the Nobel Foundation's Stockholm-based marketing and communications manager: "The United Nations Peacekeeping Forces was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988 as an organization and not as individuals. Individuals working for the U.N. at this time cannot call themselves Nobel laureates."

At time of writing early this morning, only 14 percent of 862 respondents to SooToday.com's home-page poll had indicated they felt Schinners' claim was entirely true, whereas 86 percent of readers believed it to be either completely false or stretching the truth.