Singer-songwriter and SOCAN member Damien Robitaille was presented with the 2010 Félix Leclerc Award June 17 as part of the 22nd annual FrancoFolies de Montréal music festival. Created in 1996 by the Félix Leclerc Foundation, the $2,500 award is presented each year in both Quebec and France to a local singer-songwriter with a successful career in order to foster cultural exchanges between the two communities.

Originally from Ontario, Robitaille, whose second album, Homme autonome, was released in September 2009, received his prize from the Quebec and French recipients of the 2009 award, Alexandre Désilets and Alexi HK. The other Quebec contestants for the 2010 prize were Andrea Lindsay, Bernard Adamus, Tricot Machine, Gaële, Émilie Proulx, Francis d’Octobre, Patrick Pleau, Amylie and Brigitte Saint-Aubin.

The name of the 2010 French winner is unveiled in mid-July as part of the Francofolies de La Rochelle festival. Each year, the Quebec winner of the Félix Leclerc Award receives an invitation to perform at the French festival, and vice versa.