IN HONOUR OF DOWNIE
Local MPP’S bill passes
Windsor-tecumseh MPP Percy Hatfield’s two-year quest to create the position of poet laureate of Ontario named after the late Tragically Hip singer Gord Downie ended in success Thursday.
Hatfield’s Poet Laureate of Ontario Act In Memory of Gord Downie was introduced and passed at Queen’s Park.
“I am beyond thrilled that the Ontario legislature will honour Gord Downie’s life and legacy with the Office of Ontario Poet Laureate,” Hatfield said.
“Creating this role in Downie’s memory is a powerful tribute to the legacy of this quintessentially Ontarian artist. Enshrining the office of Ontario Poet Laureate in Downie’s name both celebrates his life and gives an important platform to Ontario’s next generations of poets.”
Ontario’s poet laureate will be responsible for promoting arts and literacy in the province, celebrating the province and its peoples and raising the profile of Ontario poets.
“Ontario’s poet laureate will act as Ontario’s literacy ambassador, travelling the province to bring attention to Ontario’s great poets and works of poetry, as well as the beauty and value of poetry in our society,” Hatfield said.
“The poet laureate will also lead workshops, take part in poetry readings and encourage students to engage with poetry at school.”
Windsor’s poet laureate, Mary Ann Mulhern, expressed excitement for the new position.
“Poems by the poet laureate of Ontario will transform events into memorable, lasting experiences of pride and inspiration,” said Mulhern.
“The opening of a hospital, a bridge, a library or an arena honoured by poetry will create a climate for citizens to treasure the past, take pride in the present, open pathways to the future.”
Hatfield said Ontario will join the federal government and a number of other provinces in having its own poet laureate.
Downie, the late frontman of the Kingston band, died in October 2017 after being diagnosed with brain cancer.
Members of Downie’s family attended debate at the provincial legislature to watch the bill pass into law.
“It was really touching to hear such a heartfelt outpouring of love and appreciation for Gord, the man, and his artistic contribution,” his brother Patrick said.
While Downie is best known for his time with the Tragically Hip, he published a book of poetry in 2001 called Coke Machine Glow.
He also helped create the multi-platform Secret Path project, which tells the story of Chanie Wenjack, a 12-year-old Ojibwe boy who died while trying to escape an Ontario residential school in 1966. The initiative aimed to raise awareness about Canada’s history of residential schools through music, dance and art.
Hatfield said the bill was a non-partisan attempt to promote poetry and literacy across the province.
“This is so important to small town Ontario, rural Ontario,” he said. “They don’t have the ballet or symphony. They don’t have a lot of art galleries. But if a poet laureate comes to town that’s big news. It gets people talking about arts and culture.”
Members of the legislature from across the political spectrum paid tribute to Downie, with many reading Tragically Hip lyrics that had moved them and praising his contribution to the arts. Culture Minister Lisa Macleod said the poet laureate will raise the profile of poetry in Ontario and naming it after Downie is a fitting tribute to his legacy as an artist.
“Ingrained in the lyrics of every Tragically Hip song was meaning, poetry for certain. Listening to the lyrics you learned so much about our country and heritage.”
— Postmedia News with files from