the government, when possible. Recognition of this led Dr. Mustard and his colleagues to emphasize to all sectors of society the crucial nature of the early years to provide a healthy and competent population. A follow up report in the Early Years series was completed in 2007 by Mustard, McCain, and Dr. Stuart Shanker. The second report criticized Canada for being "dead last" in spending on early childhood education, and called for national early childhood development programs. Early Years Study 3 A third instalment in the Early Years series, Early Years Study 3: Making decisions, taking action, was posthumously published simultaneously in Montreal and Toronto on November 22, 2011, only a few days after his death. The third report was co-authored with McCain and Kerry McCuaig, the Senior Policy Fellow at the Atkinson Centre, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. The main recommendation was that children as young as 2-years-old should start receiving formal education, due to the "avalanche of evidence". This education should be community-based, and voluntary, leaving parents to decide how much time they want their children in these programs. The report also revealed that even though the federal Canadian government cancelled a national childcare program back in 2007, full-day kindergarten has grown, mostly due to provincial governments funding these initiatives. It also introduced the Early Childhood Education Index, which measures 20 factors, arranged into five broad categories: integrated governance, funding, access, learning environment and accountability. Awards and recognition Mustard was involved with governments in Canada, Australia, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, UNICEF and the Aga Khan University in Pakistan in emphasizing the enormous importance to society of early childhood development. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1976, and the winner of the 1993 Sir John William Dawson Medal for his "varied and important contributions to Canadian academic and public life." In 1985 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in 1993. In 1992, he was appointed to the Order of Ontario. In 2003 he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. He was a member of the board of PENCE (Protein Engineering Network Centre of Excellence), the Centre of Excellence of Early Child Development, the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan, Beatrice House (a residential program for homeless mothers and their children) and was Chairman Emeritus of