Ontario announces writing awards of Aboriginal youth in honour of Bartleman
Ontario government press release ...
PREMIER THANKS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR FOR SERVICE TO ONTARIO - New Writing Awards Honour James K. Bartleman’s Commitment To Literacy
TORONTO, August 23, 2007 — Premier Dalton McGuinty today thanked outgoing Lieutenant Governor, the Hon. James K. Bartleman, for his service to Ontario and announced new writing awards for Aboriginal youth created in his honour.
"His Honour made a real difference in the lives of many Aboriginal young people in Ontario with his unwavering commitment to promoting literacy," said Premier McGuinty. "We want to honour his work by helping more Aboriginal youth reach their full potential and achieve their dreams."
The James Bartleman Awards for Aboriginal Youth Creative Writing will recognize excellence in short story and poetry writing. Four awards, worth $2,500 each, will be handed out annually to Aboriginal youth up to 18 years old.
During his four-year term, the Lieutenant Governor launched two book drives, collecting over a million books for Aboriginal youth. His Honour also established summer literacy camps and reading clubs for Aboriginal youth and launched a Twinning Program for Native and non-Native schools in Ontario and Nunavut.
"On behalf of all Ontarians, I want to thank His Honour for his leadership and his dedication to helping others," said Premier McGuinty. "Ontario is an even better place to live thanks to his efforts."
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Aboriginal writers offered $2,500 awards
Louise Brown, Education Reporter - Aug 24, 2007
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has created four $2,500 awards for young aboriginal writers to honour outgoing Lieutenant-Governor James Bartleman.
To be presented each year to promising aboriginal poets and short story writers up to 18 years old, the new James Bartleman Awards for Aboriginal Youth Creative Writing are a bid to "help more aboriginal youth reach their full potential and achieve their dreams," said McGuinty in unveiling the scholarships at a farewell reception Bartleman, Canada's first aboriginal representative of the Queen.
He will be succeeded in September by Toronto broadcaster David Onley.
During his five-year term, Bartleman - whose mother is Ojibwa - ran two book drives that collected more than 1 million used books for children in remote northern reserves where school library shelves had stood empty for lack of funds. As well, he has created a long-distance book club that sends four new books a year to each of 5,000 northern aborginal children, where many homes have few reading materials.
Bartleman, who has written four books himself, made literacy a cornerstone of his tenure as lieutenant-governor.