On April 30, 1992, he was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada for his work as Premier of Saskatchewan, his enormous contribution to the field of public administration, and a key player in introducing the first comprehensive public medical health care plan in Canada. In 2000, he was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. In 2001, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Blakeney was also a past president of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.