Prime Minister appoints person with disability as Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was pleased to announce today the appointment of David C. Onley as Ontario’s newest Lieutenant-Governor.

“David Onley is a respected author, broadcaster and tireless champion for persons with disabilities. Through this work, he has demonstrated the qualities needed for such an important position,” stated the Prime Minister.

“He has loyally served the province and his country in a number of roles, and I’m confident as Lieutenant-Governor, he will continue to do so.”

Born in Midland and raised in Scarborough, David Onley joined Citytv as a science/weather specialist in 1984. Since then, he has served as an education specialist, a science and technology specialist, a news anchor, and producer.

Stricken with polio as a child, Mr. Onley was one of the first on-air personalities with a physical disability in Canada. In 1996, he received the Clarke Institute’s Courage to Come Back award, and in 1997 he was inducted into the Terry Fox Hall of Fame. He was also awarded the King Clancy Award for Disabled Persons and remains active with the Canadian Foundation for Physical Disabled Persons, the Ontario March of Dimes, and Variety Village.

Mr. Onley is the best-selling author of Shuttle: A Shattering Novel of Disaster in Space, nominated for Periodical Distributors of Canada book of the year. He and his wife Ruth Ann have three sons: Jonathan, Robert and Michael.

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