» People » Lt. Governor
of Ontario
 The
Hon. James K. Bartleman, OOnt
27th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
The Hon. James Karl Bartleman was sworn in as the 27th Lieutenant
Governor of Ontario on 7 March 2002. He is the province's 41st vice-regal
representative since John Graves Simcoe's arrival in Upper Canada in
1792.
His Honour has identified three areas of focus for his mandate: to
encourage aboriginal communities, especially young people; to speak
out to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness; and to support
initiatives that fight racism and discrimination.
Upon his installation as Lieutenant Governor, Mr Bartleman became
Chancellor and a member of the Order of Ontario. He was promoted to
Knight of Justice in the Order of St John in 2002, and received a National
Aboriginal Achievement Award for public service in 1999. His Honour
is Visitor to University of Western Ontario and received an honorary
LLD from Western in 2002. He is Honorary Patron to many organizations.
In October 2002, Mr Bartleman's first book, Out of Muskoka, was published
by Penumbra Press. This memoir of his early life won the Ontario Historical
Society's Joseph Brant Award in 2003, presented for the best book on
multicultural history published in the last three years. Mr Bartleman
has donated all royalties to the scholarship fund of the National Aboriginal
Achievement Foundation.
Mr Bartleman had a distinguished career of more than 35 years in the
Canadian Foreign Service. He was Canada's Ambassador to the European
Union from 2000 to 2002. He served as High Commissioner to Australia
in 1999-2000 and to South Africa in 1998-1999. Mr Bartleman was Ambassador
to the North Atlantic Council of NATO from 1990 to 1994. He served as
Ambassador to Israel and High Commissioner to Cyprus from 1986 to 1990,
and was Ambassador to Cuba from 1981 to 1983.
From 1994 to1998, Mr Bartleman was Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime
Minister and Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet for Foreign and Defence
Policy, Privy Council Office. He also served in senior positions in
the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade from 1967.
He opened Canada's first diplomatic mission in the newly independent
People's Republic of Bangladesh in 1972.
On a posting to Brussels, he met Marie-Jeanne Rosillon. The couple
married in 1975 and have three children: Anne-Pascale, Laurent and Alain.
Born on 24 December 1939 in Orillia, Ontario, James Bartleman grew
up in the Muskoka town of Port Carling, and is a member of the Mnjikaning
First Nation. Mr Bartleman earned a B.A.(Hon) in History from University
of Western Ontario in 1963.
|
