POET LAUREATE POST PROPOSED IN MEMORY OF GORD DOWNIE

An NDP member of the Ontario legislature wants to enshrine the name of late Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie in a law creating the province’s first poet laureate. Percy Hatfield’s Poet Laureate of Ontario Act (In Memory of Gord Downie) was introduced Tuesday in the legislature. The poet laureate would write poetry, visit schools, arrange poetry readings, and assist with writing workshops or other activities. Downie, who died of brain cancer this year, was a poet, a singer and advocate for Indigenous issues.