Ontario’s Lietenant Governor to visit Rainy River Wednesday

The Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the Hon. James K. Bartleman will be visiting the Rainy River District this Wednesday. He will be making a stop in Rainy River at around 2 p.m. Bartleman will tour the 4008 Railway Museum and Heritage Square and then attend a reception in his honour at the Royal Canadian Legion from 2:30-3:30 p.m. It is open to the public.
The Hon. James Karl Bartleman is the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and was sworn-in on 7 March 2002. He is the 41st vice-regal representative since John Graves Simcoe’s arrival in Upper Canada in 1792.
Upon his installation as Lieutenant Governor, Bartleman became Chancellor and a member of the Order of Ontario. He received a National Aboriginal Achievement Award for public service in 1999 and was invested as a serving member of the Order of St John the same year.
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. 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, 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. Bartleman earned a B.A.(Honours) in History from University of Western Ontario in 1963.
After visiting Rainy River Bartleman will travel east to Fort Frances where an evening reception is planned in his honour.