David Onley

David Charles Onley CM OOnt (June 12, 1950 – January 14, 2023) was a Canadian journalist, writer and politician who served as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 2007 until 2014.

Prior to his viceregal appointment, Onley was a television journalist. He worked primarily for Citytv as a weather reporter, before moving on to cover science and technology stories. Later on, he worked with the 24-hour news station CablePulse 24 as a news anchor and host of a weekly technology series, Home Page. A published author, he was founding president of the Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Canada.

His seven-year term as Lieutenant Governor of Ontario makes him the province's third longest serving viceroy since Confederation, behind his successor Elizabeth Dowdeswell (2014-present) and Albert Edward Matthews (1937–1946).

Early life

Onley was born in Midland, Ontario on June 12, 1950, and raised in West Hill on Orchard Park Drive in Scarborough, now part of Toronto. He was educated at the University of Toronto Scarborough, served as student council president, and graduated with a degree in political science.

Beginning at the age of three, Onley battled with polio, resulting in partial paralysis. However, as a result of extensive physical therapy, he regained the use of his hands and arms, and partial use of his legs. Onley was able to walk using leg braces and canes or crutches, but he generally preferred to get around using his electric scooter. He was able to drive a car using hand controls for acceleration and braking.

Career

Onley began his career in radio, hosting a weekly science show for Toronto radio station CFRB, subsequently joining the CKO network in 1983. He then joined Citytv in 1984 as weather specialist, a position he held until 1989. In a 2004 interview with Link Up, a Toronto employment agency for people with disabilities, Onley stated that

At the time I remember saying to my mother, 'I don't know if I should take this job (at Citytv). I don't know if they're hiring me because I'm disabled.' My mother said, 'You've been turned down enough times because of your disability, so take it!' I thought to myself, 'Damn it, she's right' and that's how my career at Citytv began.

From 1989 to 1995, he was the first news anchor on the then-new Breakfast Television, Citytv's morning show. He served as education specialist for Citytv and CablePulse 24 from 1994 to 1999. Onley became an anchor on CP24, when the station launched in 1999, and both hosted and produced Home Page on CP24.

He was one of Canada's first on-air television personalities with a visible disability; he used a mobility device due to his paralysis. Camera shots began with only upper body shots, but Onley demanded that the shot include him in his mobility device. In honour of his contributions to the advancement of disability issues in Canada, he has received awards from the Terry Fox Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Clarke Institute's Courage to Come Back award. He was appointed Chair of the Accessibility Standards Advisory Council to the Minister of Community and Social Services in 2005. He was most recently inducted into the Scarborough Walk of Fame in 2006.

Onley wrote Shuttle: A Shattering Novel of Disaster in Space, a bestselling novel about space travel, published in 1981. It was nominated by the Periodical Distributors of Canada as book of the year. He was founding president of the Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Canada.

Onley returned to his acting roots, with a cameo appearance in the sixth season of the Canadian TV series Murdoch Mysteries. The episode, "The Ghost of Queens Park" aired in Canada on February 25, 2013. In it he played the eighth Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Sir Oliver Mowat.

As Lieutenant Governor

Queen Elizabeth II holds audience with Lieutenant Governor of Ontario David C. Onley at Buckingham Palace, 2008

Onley's appointment as Lieutenant Governor was announced on July 10, 2007; he was privately informed of this after a July 4, 2007, taping of Home Page: "I just had reached the top of the Don Valley Parkway... and there was no place to pull over. And when the Prime Minister of your country calls, all you can try to do is stay in the same lane, avoid any fender-benders and have a meaningful conversation, which I did."

He was sworn in on September 5, 2007, at Queen's Park in Toronto. As the province's first Lieutenant Governor with a disability, Onley said he would use his vice-regal position to help remove physical barriers to Ontario's 1.5 million people with disabilities, as well as focus on other issues affecting the disabled, including obstacles to employment and housing. Onley also stated, in his installation speech, that he would expand on his immediate predecessor James Bartleman's First Nations literacy initiatives, his aim being to see computers on every student's desk in northern schools. For his installation, Onley approached the legislature on his electric scooter, however he ascended the Throne on foot, using leg braces and canes. Onley also travelled to China to represent the Queen and Canada at the 2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony. Onley delivered his last speech from the throne to the Ontario Legislative Assembly on July 3, 2014; his last full day in office was September 22, 2014 with his successor sworn in the following afternoon.

Onley and his wife resided in their Scarborough home during his vice-regal tenure, as Ontario is one of three provinces that does not have an official vice-regal residence.

During Onley's mandate, he participated in 2550 engagements, during which he spoke to an estimated audience of over one million people.

Post-viceregal life

Onley was appointed senior lecturer in the Department of Political Sciences at University of Toronto Scarborough, his alma mater. His appointment began on October 1, 2014. He also served as the University's Special Ambassador for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games.

Personal life and death

Onley was married to Ruth Ann Onley, a Christian music performer. They have three sons, Jonathan, Robert and Michael. In late 2019, Onley was rushed to emergency after a brain scan revealed that he had a tumour the size of an orange at the front of his brain, which was successfully removed.

David Onley died on January 14, 2023, at the age of 72. He was survived by his wife Ruth Ann, and his children; Jonathan, Robert, and Michael.

Honours and awards

Country Award or order Class or position Year Citation Canada Order of Canada Member 2016–present Canada Order of Ontario Chancellor 2007–2014 Canada Order of Ontario Member 2014–present Canada Order of St John Vice-Prior of the Order of St. John in Ontario (2007–2014), Knight of Justice of the Order 2007–present

Country Organization Award or position Year Citation Canada Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Persons King Clancy Award 1992 Canada Scarborough Women Teachers Association Award for Broadcasting Excellence 1992 Canada Clarke Institute Courage to Come Back Award 1996 Canada Terry Fox Hall of Fame Inductee 1997–present Canada University of Toronto Positive Impact Award 2001 Canada City of Scarborough Scarborough Walk of Fame Inductee 2006–present Canada Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High School National Leadership Award 2009

Academic honours

Country Organization Award or position Year Citation Canada Canada Christian College Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) date unknown Canada Centennial College Honorary Fellow 2003–present Canada University of Guelph-Humber Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) 2008 Canada University of Windsor Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) 2008 Canada University of Western Ontario Doctor of Laws (jure dignitatis) 2008 Canada Nipissing University Doctor of Education (honoris causa) 2009 Canada University of Toronto Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) 2009 Canada York University Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) 2009 Canada Carleton University Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) 2011 Canada Law Society of Upper Canada Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) 2013

Ribbon bar

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Ribbon	Description	Date	Notes
	Order of Canada	2016	Member (CM)
	Order of St. John	2007	Knight of Justice (KStJ)
	Order of Ontario	2007	Member (OOnt)
	125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal	1992
40px	Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal	2012	Canadian version

Other distinctions

• He served as Colonel of the Regiment of The Queen's York Rangers in his capacity of Lieutenant Governor.
• He was the Honorary Colonel of 25 Field Ambulance in a personal capacity.
• Midland has a David Onley Park, dedicated on his 63rd birthday (June 12, 2013).

Arms of David Onley

File:Onley Escutcheon.png

Crest Issuant from a Loyalist civil coronet Azure a phoenix Or issuant from flames proper and holding in its beak a cane Azure; Escutcheon Azure on a pile reversed an open book Argent bound and charged with a Latin cross Azure; Supporters Two eagles wings elevated and addorsed Or each gorged with a coronet erablé Azure and standing on a grassy mount Vert set with three apples Gules slipped Or; Motto PER ARDUA AD ALTA (Through Difficulties To The Heights)

Bibliography

• Shuttle: A Shattering Novel of Disaster in Space (1981) ISBN 0-89083-951-4 (book), ISBN 0-88646-826-4 (audio edition)

See also

• Monarchy in Canada
• Monarchy in Ontario

External links

• Biography of David Onley – The Canadian Encyclopedia
• David Onley's End of Mandate Report (PDF file)
• Lieutenant Governor of Ontario