Elizabeth Dowdeswell | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Dowdeswell in 2020 | |
| 29th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario | |
| In office September 23, 2014 – November 14, 2023 | |
| Monarchs | |
| Governors General | |
| Premier | |
| Preceded by | David Onley |
| Succeeded by | Edith Dumont |
| 3rd Executive Director of theUnited Nations Environment Programme | |
| In office 1992–1998 | |
| Secretary-General | Boutros Boutros-Ghali Kofi Annan |
| Preceded by | Mostafa Kamal Tolba |
| Succeeded by | Klaus Töpfer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Violet Elizabeth Patton (1944-11-09)November 9, 1944 (age 80) Belfast,Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Civil servant |
Violet Elizabeth Dowdeswell[1][2]OC OOnt (néePatton; born November 9, 1944) is a Canadiancivil servant who served as the 29thlieutenant governor of Ontario from 2014 to 2023.[3] As lieutenant governor, Dowdeswell was theviceregal representative of theCrown in Right of Ontario. A champion ofcivil society,environmental protection,inclusive growth andliberal democracy, she is also the longest-serving lieutenant governor in Ontario's history.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][a][b]
Violet Elizabeth Patton was born inBelfast,Northern Ireland, on November 9, 1944. She moved with her family to Canada in 1947, settling in ruralSaskatchewan.[12] Her father, Desmond Granville Patton (1920-2008), was aminister of theUnited Church of Canada.[13] Dowdeswell married at a young age but soon divorced.[13] She attended theUniversity of Saskatchewan andUtah State University, and she later became a teacher and university lecturer.[14]
Dowdeswell left teaching and entered public service as a special assistant toSaskatchewan's deputy education minister for two years (1976-78),[15] then worked as deputy minister of culture and youth during theNew Democratic Party government ofAllan Blakeney. She was then dismissed, along with other deputy ministers, after theProgressive Conservative government ofGrant Devine took power in 1982.[13]
She held various positions in the federal public service during the 1980s, working at one point as assistant deputy minister atEnvironment Canada with responsibility for the Atmospheric Environment Service and negotiating the Framework Convention on Climate Change. She also led a public inquiry into Canada's unemployment benefits program and federal water policy.[16]
In 1992, Dowdeswell was selected to lead theUnited Nations Environment Programme inNairobi,Kenya, serving a full four-year term and a one-year extension until she resigned in 1998.[17]
From 1998 to 2010, she was an adjunct professor at the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health at theUniversity of Toronto, while also serving as founding president and CEO of theNuclear Waste Management Organization.[18] From 2010 until her appointment as Lieutenant Governor, she was the president and CEO of theCouncil of Canadian Academies.[19]
Dowdeswell was appointed as lieutenant governor byGovernor GeneralDavid Johnston on the advice ofPrime MinisterStephen Harper, who selected Dowdeswell from a shortlist devised by theAdvisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments. On September 23, 2014, she was sworn in during a ceremony held atQueen's Park in Toronto.[20] She is the third woman to serve in the position, afterPauline Mills McGibbon andHilary Weston.
Dowdeswell declared in her installation address that she would not immediately espouse a particular area of focus during her time as lieutenant governor. Instead, she said she would engage the people of Ontario, listening to their concerns and ideas. She has since adopted "sustainability" and "Ontario in the world" as personal themes. In addition, Dowdeswell has called herself Ontario's unofficial "Storyteller-in-Chief".[21]
According to annual reports published on her office's website, Dowdeswell has conducted, on average, more than 700 public engagements yearly as lieutenant governor, as well as numerous visits abroad to the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark.[22] She has visited all of Ontario's provincial electoral districts.[23]
On September 22, 2022, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the addition of Dowdeswell, alongside other Canadian lieutenant governors, to the country's so-called stop list banning entry to Russian territory.[24]
Dowdeswell's mandate came to an end on November 14, 2023, and she was succeeded byEdith Dumont.[25]
As a formerlieutenant governor in Canada, Dowdeswell is entitled to be styledthe Honourable for life. She had the additional style ofHer Honour while in office.[26][27]
| Ribbon bars of Elizabeth Dowdeswell | |||
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May 24, 2012: Officer of theOrder of Canada (OC) November 26, 2014: Dame of Justice of theMost Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (DStJ)
September 23, 2014: Member of theOrder of Ontario (OOnt) June 18, 2012:Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
2022:Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (Nova Scotia)[19] May 6, 2024:King Charles III Coronation Medal September 23, 2014 – November 14, 2023: Colonel of the Regiment ofThe Queen's York Rangers (while in office) September 23, 2014 – November 14, 2023: Honorary Commissioner of theOntario Provincial Police[29]Dowdeswell has received severalhonorary degrees from various universities in Canada and Europe. These include:
| Jurisdiction | Date | School | Degree |
|---|---|---|---|
 Saskatchewan | May 25, 1994 | University of Saskatchewan | Doctor of Laws (LLD)[30] |
| Nova Scotia | 1998 | Mount Saint Vincent University | Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL)[31] |
| Ontario | Spring 1999 | York University | Doctor of Laws (LLD)[32] |
 British Columbia | October 22, 1999 | Royal Roads University | [33] |
| Saskatchewan | Spring 2001 | University of Regina | [34] |
| Ontario | 2013 | University of Ontario Institute of Technology | Doctor of Science (DSc)[35] |
| Ontario | June 9, 2015 | University of Western Ontario | Doctor of Laws (LLD)[36] |
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The Honourable v. Elizabeth Dowdeswell Lieutenant Governor of Our Province of Ontario
Since taking office in late 2014, Ms. Dowdeswell has challenged Ontarians to think deeply about their role not just as residents of a province, but as global citizens. Building resilience and sustainability through inclusive economic prosperity, environmental stewardship, and social cohesion as well as safeguarding democracy have been the focus of her mandate.
But Ms. Dowdeswell was granted only a one-year extension when her four-year term expired last Dec. 31.
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Ontario 2014–2023 | Succeeded by |
