Veteran journalist and long-time advocate David Onley was appointed as Ontario's next lieutenant-governor on Tuesday.

Onley, who was stricken with polio as a child, said his first priority during his term will be to secure rights for the disabled.

"I wish to provide a unique and timely mandate for Ontario. I will advance the cause of accessibility. First, merely because of my physical limitations and second, through the role of the lieutenant governor, I will be an encouraging model I know for disabled people in general," Onley said during a press conference at Variety Village on Danforth Avenue Tuesday.

"Most Ontarians already understand the importance of improved accessibility, but they are looking for both direction and encouragement. Well here it comes. Standards and regulations will occur."

Onley was one of the first disabled on-camera personalities in the country.

When he started his career, he used leg braces and crutches and later read the news and conducted interviews from a wheelchair.

Born in Midland and raised in Scarborough, Onley has been an education reporter, as well as, a science and technology reporter.

The appointment was confirmed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office Tuesday.

"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," Harper said in a statement.

"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."

Onley received word of his appointment via a personal phone call from the prime minister while he was driving home from work last week.

Onley will replace James Bartleman, who became the 27th lieutenant-governor in March 2002, at the end of July.

Bartleman said Tuesday was a "great day for Ontario" and said the queen's representative in the province should use the position to connect with people and advance issues the government hasn't been able to make "huge headway'' in.

"There is a tremendous moral power associated with the office,'' Bartleman said in an interview from his home in Perth, Ont. "If lieutenant-governors and governors general confine their role to a purely ceremonial one, the office will eventually be regarded as irrelevant.''

With files from the Canadian Press