Poet Laureate of Ontario

The Poet Laureate of Ontario (French: Poète officiel de l’Ontario) is the poet laureate for the province of Ontario in Canada. The position was established in 2019 as an office of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in honour of musician and writer Gord Downie.[1]

Poet Laureate of Ontario
Poète officiel de l’Ontario
Incumbent
Randell Adjei
Reports toSpeaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Term length2 years
Constituting instrumentPoet Laureate of Ontario Act (In Memory of Gord Downie), 2019
First holderRandell Adjei
Websitewww.ontariopoet.org

Establishment

The Poet Laureate of Ontario Act (In Memory of Gord Downie), 2019 was introduced in December 2017 as a private member's bill to the legislature by Percy Hatfield, the Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Windsor—Tecumseh.[2][1] Passage of the bill into law on December 12, 2019 was attended by members of Downie's family, during which time MPPs read The Tragically Hip lyrics and paid tribute to Downie.[1]

The first poet laureate was originally scheduled to be named in 2020, after being selected by a legislative panel chaired by speaker Ted Arnott,[3] however the announcement was delayed until 2021.[4] The appointee will hold the role for a two-year term.[3] On April 28, 2021, Randell Adjei was named the first poet laureate.[5]

References
  1. Jeffords, Shawn (December 12, 2019). "Ontario Poet Laureate role created in honour of Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie". Global News. The Canadian Press. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  2. "'His legend lives on': Ontario to get poet laureate in memory of Gord Downie". CBC News. December 12, 2019. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  3. Benzie, Robert (December 22, 2019). "Ontario's poet laureate will begin putting pen to paper in 2020". Toronto Star. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  4. "News release: Nominate Ontario's first Poet Laureate". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. June 29, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  5. Benzie, Robert (April 28, 2021). "Randell Adjei is named Ontario's first Poet Laureate". St. Catharines Standard.
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