James Bartleman

James Karl Bartleman, OC OOnt (born 24 December 1939 in Orillia, Ontario) is a Canadian diplomat, author, and was the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 2002 to 2007.

Bartleman grew up in the Muskoka town of Port Carling, and is a member of the Chippewas of Mnjikaning First Nation. In 1963, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (BA) in History from the University of Western Ontario, where he was initiated as a member of Phi Delta Theta.

From 2007 to 2012, Bartleman was the Chancellor of the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) in Toronto, Ontario.

Foreign service career

Prior to taking on the role of Lieutenant Governor, Bartleman had a distinguished career of more than 35 years in the Canadian foreign service. He began his diplomatic career in what was then known as the Department of External Affairs (now the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade) in 1967. In 1972 he was given the task of opening Canada’s first diplomatic mission in the newly independent People’s Republic of Bangladesh. He was then made Canada's ambassador to Cuba (Havana) from 1981 to 1983. Upon his return from Cuba, he was appointed as director of security and intelligence for the Department of External Affairs.^[2] After this, Bartleman served as High Commissioner to Cyprus and Ambassador to Israel (Tel Aviv) simultaneously from 1986 to 1990. From the dual posting he moved to post of Canadian Ambassador to the North Atlantic Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in Brussels, Belgium from 1990 to 1994. He was moved from NATO to the Commonwealth of Nations positions as High Commissioner to South Africa (Pretoria) in 1998-1999 and to Australia (Canberra) in 1999-2000. Finally, he was transferred back to Europe to serve as Ambassador to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium from 2000 to 2002.

Bartleman was director of security and intelligence for the Department of External Affairs at the time of the Air India Bombing. On 3 May 2007, he testified at the Air India Inquiry that he had presented an intelligence document to the RCMP warning of a possible attack days prior to the bombing.^[3] Bob Rae later admitted that he never bothered to interview Bartleman, the former head of intelligence for Foreign Affairs Canada while investigating the Air India bombing.^[4]

Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario

Bartleman was sworn in as the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario on 7 March 2002 as Ontario's 41st Vice-regal representative (27th since confederation, 41st since the establishment of the post in 1792).

As is traditional to a vice-regal appointment, Bartleman has used his position to spearhead three initiatives that he personally identifies with and considers important. During his mandate as Lieutenant Governor he sought to:

1. Reduce the stigma of mental illness
2. Fight racism and discrimination
3. Promote literacy among First Nations children.

To these ends, he initiated the Lieutenant Governor's Book Program in 2004. He has collected over 1.2 million books, donated from all corners of the province from both institutions and individuals, to stock school libraries in First Nations communities, particularly in Northern Ontario. In 2005, to further promote literacy and bridge building, Bartleman initiated a program to pair up Native and non-Native schools in Ontario and Nunavut, and set-up summer camps for literacy^[5] development in five northern First Nations communities.^[6]

Writing

Bartleman published several works of non-fiction, both before and during his viceregal term. These included the childhood memoirs Out of Muskoka (2002) and Raisin Wine: A Boyhood in a Different Muskoka (2007), and the professional career memoirs On Six Continents (2004) and Rollercoaster: My Hectic Years as Jean Chrétien's Diplomatic Advisor (2005).

Following the end of his viceregal term, Bartleman has also published a trilogy of social justice novels, As Long as the Rivers Flow (2011),The Redemption of Oscar Wolf (2013) and Exceptional Circumstances (2015). As Long as the Rivers Flow was a finalist for the 2013 Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature.^[7]

Honours

Awards

• Rotary Youth Impact Award for Lifetime Achievement, 25 January 2008, by the Rotary Club of Toronto West
• On 1 June 2002, he was invested as a Knight of Justice in the Order of St John
• On 1 June 2002, as Lieutenant-Governor he received the Order of Ontario and became the Order's Chancellor.
• In 2002 He Received the Canadian Version of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal.^[8]
• In 2012 He Received the Canadian Version of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.^[9]
• Bartleman was awarded the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, now the Indspire Awards, for public service in 1999.^[10]
• The Dr. Hugh Lefave Award
• The Courage to Come Back Award
• The Deloitte Hero Inspiration Award
• The Jane Chamberlin Award for his efforts to reduce the stigma of mental illness.
• The Phi Delta Kappa Educator of the Year Award
• The DAREarts Cultural Award in recognition of the Lieutenant Governor's Book Program.
• In 2011, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada "for his contributions to his country, notably as lieutenant governor, and as a champion of mental health, literacy and poverty reduction"^[11]

Honorary Degrees

James Bartleman Has Been Awarded Many Honorary Degrees for His Service to Canada, These Include

Country	Date	School	Degree
Ontario	25 June 2002	University of Western Ontario	Doctor of Laws (LL.D) [12]
Ontario	Fall 2003	York University	Doctor of Laws (LL.D) [13]
Ontario	2004	Queen's University	Doctor of Laws (LL.D) [14]
Ontario	2004	Algoma University	Doctor of Laws (LL.D) [15]
Ontario	2004	Laurentian University	Doctor of Laws (LL.D) [16]
Ontario	2005	Ryerson University	Doctorate [17]
Ontario	Spring 2005	University of Windsor	Doctor of Laws (LL.D) [18]
Quebec	29 May 2006	McGill University	Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) [19]
Ontario	2006	Nipissing University	Doctor of Education (D.Ed) [20]
Ontario	2008	OCAD University	Doctorate [21]
Ontario	2013	Carleton University	Doctorate [22]

Honorific eponyms

Awards

• Ontario: James Bartleman Aboriginal Youth Creative Writing Awards^[23]

Bibliography

• Out of Muskoka (2002)
• On Six Continents (2004)
• Rollercoaster: My Hectic Years as Jean Chrétien's Diplomatic Advisor (2005)
• Raisin Wine: A Boyhood in a Different Muskoka (2007)
• As Long as the Rivers Flow (2011)
• The Redemption of Oscar Wolf (2013)

See also

• The Canadian Crown and Aboriginal peoples
• List of Canadian university leaders

References

External links

• Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario Official Site
• Vice-regal Badge of Service
• James Bartleman on The Hour
• Bartleman, James K. at The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada Complete List of Posts

Lieutenant Governors of Ontario
Post-Confederation (1867–present)	Stisted Howland Crawford D. A. Macdonald J. B. Robinson Campbell Kirkpatrick Gzowski Mowat Clark Gibson Hendrie Clarke Cockshutt Ross Mulock H. A. Bruce Matthews Lawson Breithaupt MacKay Rowe W. R. Macdonald McGibbon Aird Alexander Jackman Weston Bartleman Onley Dowdeswell
Province of Canada (1841–66)*	Clitherow Jackson Bagot Metcalfe Cathcart J. Bruce E. W. Head Monck
Upper Canada (1791–1841)	Simcoe Russell Hunter Grant Gore Brock Sheaffe de Rottenburg Drummond Murray F. P. Robinson Smith Maitland Colborne Bond Head Arthur Thomson
British Province of Quebec (1759–91)*	Amherst Murray Carleton Haldimand Carleton (2nd time)
* The Crown's representative from 1759 to 1791, and from 1841 to 1866 held the office and rank of Governor-General.