Paul Dewar to receive key to the city

Former Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar is getting the key to the city Thursday night.

Dewar, who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancerearlier this year, was the MP for Ottawa Centre from 2006 to 2015. Glioblastoma is the same type of cancer that Tragically Hip singer Gord Downie died from last year.

Dewar has been direct about what the diagnosis means.

"It is grade 4, which is terminal. There is no cure. There is treatment, and so that's what I've been dealing with for the last couple of months," Dewar told Robyn Bresnahan, host of CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning, in an interview in June.

He has since thrown his energy behind a new initiative called Youth Action Now, which aims to connect young people who are working on grassroots projects with the means to carry them out.

According to a city news release, he is being recognized for his "service and dedication to his community and country, and his significant contributions to education and youth empowerment."

The event takes place from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. atAndrew S. HaydonHall insideOttawa City Hall.