The Hon. James Bartleman delivered the Eighth Annual Lowery Lecture on Children's Rights Monday, May 28, 7:00 p.m., Toronto Ontario's twenty-eighth Lieutenant Governor, the Hon. James Bartleman, presented this year's annual Lowery Lecture on Children's Rights. James Bartleman is a renowned Canadian author, diplomat and community leader. He grew up in the Muskoka town of Port Carling and is a member of the Mnjikaning First Nation. After earning a Bachelor of Arts in History at the University of Western Ontario, he joined the Foreign Service. Mr. Bartleman held numerous senior posts in the Foreign Service, including ambassador to Cuba, Israel, and the European Union, and High Commissioner to Cyprus and Australia. From James Bartleman discussed programs that serve children and youth in northern Ontario at the 2007 Lowery Lecture.

1994 to 1998 he served as the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister Jean Chretien. Mr. Bartleman is the author of four non-fiction books: Out of Muskoka (2002), On Six Continents (2004), Rollercoaster: My Hectic Years as Jean Chrétien’s Diplomatic Advisor 1994-1998 (2005), and Raisin Wine: A Boyhood In A Different Muskoka (2007). Mr. Bartleman is the leader of many important programs to help aboriginal children. In 2004 he launched The Lieutenant Governor’s Book Program, which provided 850,000 good used books to First Nations schools and Native Friendship Centres throughout Ontario. In 2005 he launched a program to twin Native and non-Native schools in Ontario and Nunavut, and established literacy summer camps in five northern First Nations communities as a pilot project. In 2006 he expanded his literacy summer camps program to 28 fly-in communities and secured funding for the next four years, and also launched Club Amick, a reading club for Native children in Ontario’s Far North. The Lecture The Lowery Lecture on Children's Rights was established in 2000 in memory of the late Grant Lowery, who was a DCI-Canada board member and long-time advocate for children. Since its inception, the Lowery Lecture has developed a two-pronged reputation. It is a gathering place for those interested in child rights. Each year's audience represents a Who's who of the child rights community. For child rights advocates who are “in the loop,” or who aspire to be, the lecture and wine & cheese reception mark an important opportunity to stay connected and catch up. But it is also a forum for new and innovative ideas. By tapping into the perspectives of cutting-edge advocates, the lecture provides a sneak preview of the issues, problems and questions that will soon break into the mainstream. DCI-Canada holds the Lowery Lecture every spring. The lecture is open to everyone without charge. It is followed by a wine and cheese reception, compliments of DCI-Canada. For more information ... > about the lecture > about the Hon. James Bartleman

How to get there The George Ignatieff Theatre is located in the Larkin Building, 15 Devonshire Place, on the St. George Campus of University of Toronto.