Poet Laureate of Ontario
{{Infobox official post
| post = Poet Laureate of Ontario
| body =
| native_name = Poète officiel de l’Ontario
| insignia =
| insigniasize =
| insigniacaption =
| incumbent = Matthew-Ray Jones
| incumbentsince =
| type =
| status =
| reports_to = Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
| appointer =
| appointer_qualified =
| termlength = 2 years
| termlength_qualified =
| constituting_instrument = Poet Laureate of Ontario Act (In Memory of Gord Downie), 2019
| formation =
| first = Randell Adjei
| salary =
| website = {{url|https://www.ontariopoet.org/}}
}}
The poet laureate of Ontario ({{langx|fr|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.
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. 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.
The first poet laureate was originally scheduled to be named in 2020, after being selected by a legislative panel chaired by speaker Ted Arnott, however the announcement was delayed until 2021.{{cite web |title=News release: Nominate Ontario’s first Poet Laureate |url=https://www.ola.org/en/poet-laureate/news-release |website=Legislative Assembly of Ontario |access-date=September 27, 2020 |date=June 29, 2020}} The appointee will hold the role for a two-year term. On April 28, 2021, Randell Adjei was named the first poet laureate.{{cite news |title=Ontario's first poet laureate on what 'introspective arts' can do for youth |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/ontario-poet-laureate-randell-adjei-1.6015982 |access-date=8 August 2022 |website=CBC News}}
Matthew-Ray Jones was named the second poet laureate in 2024.
References
{{reflist|refs=
{{cite news|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/6290772/ontario-poet-laureate-gord-downie/|title=Ontario Poet Laureate role created in honour of Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie|last=Jeffords|first=Shawn|agency=The Canadian Press|publisher=Global News|date=December 12, 2019|access-date=December 13, 2019}}
{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/gord-downie-poet-laureate-position-1.5392988|title='His legend lives on': Ontario to get poet laureate in memory of Gord Downie|publisher=CBC News|date=December 12, 2019|access-date=December 13, 2019}}
{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2019/12/22/ontarios-poet-laureate-will-begin-putting-pen-to-paper-in-2020.html|title=Ontario’s poet laureate will begin putting pen to paper in 2020|last=Benzie|first=Robert|publisher=Toronto Star|date=December 22, 2019|access-date=January 6, 2020}}
{{cite news|url=https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ts/politics/provincial/2021/04/28/randell-adjei-is-named-ontarios-first-poet-laureate.html|title=Randell Adjei is named Ontario’s first Poet Laureate|last=Benzie|first=Robert|publisher=St. Catharines Standard|date=April 28, 2021}}
}}
External links
- {{official|https://www.ontariopoet.org/}}
- [https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-42/session-1/bill-6 Bill 6, Poet Laureate of Ontario Act (In Memory of Gord Downie), 2019] at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
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