David Onley, former broadcaster and Ont. lieutenant-governor, dies at age 72

Onley remembered as an advocate, role model Family members, dignitaries and admirers gathered to pay their respects for David Onley at his funeral in Toronto.

Former broadcast journalist and disability advocate David Onley, who served as the 28th lieutenant-governor of Ontario, has died at the age of 72.

"It is with great sadness that I have learned of the death of the Honourable David C. Onley. On behalf of the people of Ontario, I convey my deep condolences to his wife Ruth Ann, to their children Jonathan, Robert, and Michael, and to their extended families," current Ontario Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell said in a statement on Saturday.

Born in Midland, Ont. and raised in Scarborough in Toronto's east end, Onley had a 22-year career as a television broadcast journalist prior to being appointed as vice-regal and was one of the first on-camera personalities with a visible disability. He began his television career as a weather specialist for CityTV in 1984 and held numerous roles at the network before becoming an anchor for CP24 in 1999.

Onley served as lieutenant-governor from 2007 to 2014, becoming the first vice-regal with a physical disability. He used a mobility scooter after having polio as a child and is being remembered as a champion of accessibility issues during his time in office.

"As Ontario’s first lieutenant-governor with a physical disability, he adopted accessibility as the overarching theme of his mandate, just as he had made breaking down barriers a mission earlier on in his life," Dowdeswell said. "While in office, his commitment to accessibility fostered an acute awareness that access to opportunity for all is a powerful force for transforming individual lives, and society as a whole."

After retiring as lieutenant-governor, Onley joined the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus as a political science lecturer and was also appointed to the Order of Canada in 2017.

"Mr. Onley believed so deeply in the goodwill and firm practicality of Ontarians that he saw no reason why we could not lead the world in transforming society so that everyone is able to contribute something of value. And there is no doubt that his legacy has positively impacted the lives of people across Ontario," said Dowdeswell.