Dowdeswell left teaching and entered public service as a special assistant to Saskatchewan's deputy education minister for two years (1976-78),[15] then worked as deputy minister of culture and youth during the New Democratic Party government of Allan Blakeney. She was then dismissed, along with other deputy ministers, after the Progressive Conservative government of Grant Devine took power in 1982.[13]
She held various positions in the federal public service during the 1980s, working at one point as assistant deputy minister at Environment Canada with responsibility for the Atmospheric Environment Service and negotiating the Framework Convention on Climate Change. She also led a public inquiry into Canada's unemployment benefits program and federal water policy.[16]
Dowdeswell declared in her installation address that she would not immediately espouse a particular area of focus during her time as lieutenant governor. Instead, she said she would engage the people of Ontario, listening to their concerns and ideas. She has since adopted "sustainability" and "Ontario in the world" as personal themes. In addition, Dowdeswell has called herself Ontario's unofficial "Storyteller-in-Chief".[21]
According to annual reports published on her office's website, Dowdeswell has conducted, on average, more than 700 public engagements yearly as lieutenant governor, as well as numerous visits abroad to the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark.[22] She has visited all of Ontario's provincial electoral districts.[23]
On September 22, 2022, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the addition of Dowdeswell, alongside other Canadian lieutenant governors, to the country's so-called stop list banning entry to Russian territory.[24]
Dowdeswell's mandate came to an end on November 14, 2023, and she was succeeded by Edith Dumont.[25]
November 26, 2014 – November 14, 2023: Vice Prior of the Priory of Canada of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (while in office)
Issuant from a circlet of garbs Or and trillium flowers proper, a demi-globe Azure resting thereon a balance Or.
Escutcheon
Azure on an oval Argent environed by two branches of laurel Or, a viceroy butterfly volant Purpure embellished Or.
Supporters
Two doves Argent beaked and legged Or each charged on the wing with an oval Purpure, that to the dexter bearing a Celtic cross, that to the sinister bearing a harp Or, and standing on a grassy mount Vert.
Motto
SERVIRE VITÆ IN TERRA (To Serve Life On Earth).[37]
Footnotes
^Albert Edward Matthews, Ontario's 16th lieutenant governor, previously held this record, serving from November 30, 1937, to December 26, 1946. Dowdeswell surpassed his tenure of nine years and 26 days on October 20, 2023.
^Building resilience and sustainability through inclusive prosperity, environmental stewardship, and social cohesion, as well as safeguarding democracy, have been the focus of her mandate.[11]
^Queen's Printer for Ontario (April 9, 2016). "Proclamation"(PDF). Ontario Gazette. 149 (15): 711. ISSN0030-2937. Archived from the original(PDF) on August 26, 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2016. The Honourable v. Elizabeth Dowdeswell Lieutenant Governor of Our Province of Ontario
^"Her Honour". Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. October 1, 2014. Archived from the original on December 8, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
^Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. "History". King's Printer for Ontario. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
^State of Lake Erie Conference (March 16, 2022). "Welcome Remarks: The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell". International Association for Great Lakes Research. Retrieved October 6, 2024. Since taking office in late 2014, Ms. Dowdeswell has challenged Ontarians to think deeply about their role not just as residents of a province, but as global citizens. Building resilience and sustainability through inclusive economic prosperity, environmental stewardship, and social cohesion as well as safeguarding democracy have been the focus of her mandate.
^"Installation address". Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. September 26, 2014. Archived from the original on January 6, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
^Knox, Paul (December 3, 1997). "WORLD BUZZ / Environmental apostle awaits the UN's nod. Toepfer tapped for UNEP". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. p. A14. But Ms. Dowdeswell was granted only a one-year extension when her four-year term expired last Dec. 31.
^Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. "Areas of focus". King's Printer for Ontario. Archived from the original on May 5, 2023. Retrieved November 13, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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