The Honourable David C. Onley received the degree of Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa on November 12, 2011 at 9.30 a.m. in recognition of his “outstanding contribution to the advancement of disability issues as well as his social justice, humanitarian, and charitable work for, and with, people with disabilities”.
David Charles Onley was a Canadian broadcaster and writer 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. As a published author, he was the 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 Albert Edward Matthews (1937–1946) and his successor Elizabeth Dowdeswell (2014–2023). He was also the patron of numerous organizations, including the Rick Hansen Foundation, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, and Carleton’s own Accessibility Institute (formerly the READ Initiative).
David Charles Onley, former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, passed away on January 14, 2023.
The Carleton University community remembers David C. Onley as a passionate disability rights advocate and accessibility champion who worked tirelessly to raise awareness of unemployment and underemployment of persons with disabilities, as well as lead accessibility and inclusion initiatives in Ontario, and at Carleton.