Elizabeth Dowdeswell

Her Honour the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell OC OOnt
29th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
Incumbent
Assumed office September 23, 2014
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	David Johnston
Premier	Kathleen Wynne
Preceded by	David Onley
3rd Executive Director of the United 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	thumb (1944-11-09) November 9, 1944 Belfast, Northern Ireland
Died	thumb Dowdeswell seated on the Throne during her installation ceremony
Resting place	thumb Dowdeswell seated on the Throne during her installation ceremony
Parent	thumb Dowdeswell seated on the Throne during her installation ceremony
Alma mater	University of Saskatchewan Utah State University

Elizabeth Dowdeswell OC OOnt (née Patton, born November 9, 1944) is a teacher, public servant, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, and current Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the 29th since Canadian Confederation.

Dowdeswell was born in Northern Ireland, immigrating to rural Saskatchewan with her parents in 1947. She attended the University of Saskatchewan and Utah State University before becoming a teacher and university lecturer. After working as a deputy minister for the Government of Saskatchewan, she held increasingly senior positions in the Canadian public service, most notably as head of the Meteorological Service of Canada. In 1992, Dowdeswell was unanimously elected to lead the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi, Kenya, serving there until 1998.

From 1998 to 2010, she was an adjunct professor at the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health at the University of Toronto, while also serving as founding president and CEO of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (Canada). From 2010 until her appointment, she was the president and CEO of the Council of Canadian Academies.

On June 26, 2014, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Dowdeswell's appointment. She was sworn into office during a ceremony at the Ontario Legislative Building on September 23, 2014.

As Lieutenant Governor, Dowdeswell is entitled to be styled Her Honour while in office and The Honourable for life.

Early life

Dowdeswell was born in Northern Ireland and in 1947 moved with her family to Canada, settling in Saskatchewan. Her father was a United Church of Canada minister. Dowedeswell married at a young age but soon divorced. She graduated from the University of Saskatchewan and Utah State University to become a high school teacher.

Career

Dowdeswell left teaching and entered public service, serving as deputy minister of culture during the New Democratic Party government of Allan Blakeney but was dismissed, along with other deputy ministers, after the Progressive Conservative government of Grant Devine took power in 1982.

She served in the federal public service in the 1980s, serving at one point as Assistant Deputy Minister at Environment 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.

Dowdeswell became Undersecretary-General of the United Nations in the 1990s. After her career at the UN, Dowdeswell became a visiting professor at the University of Toronto and associate fellow with the European Centre for Public Affairs.

In 2002 Dowdeswell became president of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization.

Lieutenant Governor

Dowdeswell was appointed Lieutenant Governor by Governor General David Johnston on the advice of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who selected Dowdeswell from a shortlist devised by the Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments. On September 23, 2014, she was sworn in during a ceremony held at Queen's Park in Toronto, during which she addressed members of the Ontario Cabinet, Members of Provincial Parliament, and other guests. She is the third woman to serve the position, following Pauline Mills McGibbon and Hilary Weston.

Breaking with tradition, Dowdeswell declared in her installation address that she would not immediately espouse a particular area of focus during her mandate as Lieutenant Governor. Instead, she intends to engage the people of Ontario, listening to their concerns and ideas before settling upon any priority themes.

Titles, styles, honours, and awards

Titles

Viceregal styles of Elizabeth Dowdeswell (2014–present)
Reference style	Her Honour the Honourable Son Honneur l'honorable
Spoken style	Your Honour Votre Honneur

• November 9, 1944 – ?: Ms. Elizabeth Patton
• ? – September 23, 2014: Ms. Elizabeth Dowdeswell
• September 23, 2014 – : Her Honour the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario

Honours

Ribbon bar of Elizabeth Dowdeswell

Appointments

• May 24, 2012: Officer of the Order of Canada (OC)
• September 23, 2014 – : Chancellor and Member of the Order of Ontario (OOnt)

Medals

• June 18, 2012: Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal

Honorary appointments

• September 23, 2014 – : Colonel of the Regiment of The Queen's York Rangers
• September 23, 2014: Honorary Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police

See also

• Monarchy of Canada
• Monarchy in Ontario

External links

• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario