David Onley

The Honourable, David C. Onley, CM OOnt served as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 2007 to 2014. His seven-year term makes him the second longest serving Lieutenant Governor of Ontario since the office was created in 1792 and the first with a physical disability.

In addition to representing Her Majesty the Queen in the Province, Onley used his vice-regal position to promote accessibility and the removal of physical barriers for Ontario’s 2 million disabled persons, as well as other related issues including obstacles to employment and housing.

He began his career in 1984 as a reporter for Toronto’s Citytv and in the 22 years prior to the Vice Regal appointment, received numerous honours for advancing disability issues in Canada including being inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame in 1997, and receiving the 1996 Clarke Institute’s Courage to Come Back award.

In 2005, Onley was appointed Chair of the Accessibility Standards Advisory Council on the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) to the Minister of Community and Social Services and conducted the Third Legislative Review of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act in 2018-19.

He is on the Board of Directors for both Crossroads Communications and Canadian Hearing Services and holds ten Honorary Degrees.

Onley is currently an Associate Professor, Teaching Stream and Distinguished Visitor in Political Science at the University of Toronto Scarborough where he is an advisor on Accessibility to the Dean and the Principal, is a member of the Centre for Global Disability Studies, serves on various committees and teaches two senior seminar courses: The Politics of Disability and Sources of Power: The Crown, Parliament and the People.