James Bartleman, the former Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, has passed away at the age of 83.

Mr. Bartleman was the lieutenant Governor General of Ontario who was of First Nations descent, being a member of the Chippewas of Mnjikaning First Nation.

He was born in Port Carling, in the Muskoka region of Ontario on 24 December 1939. He would earn a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in history in 1963 from the University of Western Ontario.

He would work for the Department of External Affairs, starting in 1967, including spending time as part of the diplomatic missions in Bangladesh and Colombia. He would serve as Ambassador to Cuba from 1981 to 1983. Later he served as High Commissioner to Cyprus, South Africa, and Australia; and Ambassador to Israel. Plus he was the Ambassador to the European Union from 2000 to 2002.

Mr. Bartleman was sworn in as Ontario’s Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario on March 7th, 2002. He was the 27th Vice-Regal representative in Ontario since Confederation and the 41st since the post was established in 1792. He would serve for five years before being succeeded by David Onley. His priorities as Lieutenant-Governor included three main areas of focus:

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

After serving as Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. Bartleman woud serve as Chancellor of the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) from 2007 to 2012.

Mr. Bartleman would receive many honours during his life, including being named an Officer of the Order of Canada (2011), the Order of Ontario (2002), Knight of Justice in the Order of St. John (2002), Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002), and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), plus several honorary Doctors of Law – from York University, Queen’s University, Algoma University, Laurentian University, University of Windsor, and University of Toronto.

He also the author of nine books.

Mr Bartleman passed away on August 14th, 2023 at the age of 83 as announced by current Lieutenant-Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell.