David Onley, former Ontario lieutenant-governor, remembered as role model, family man
David Onley, former Ontario lieutenant-governor, remembered as role model, family man
David Onley, a former lieutenant-governor for Ontario, was remembered Monday as a tireless advocate, a role model, a man of faith and a devoted husband, father and grandfather.
Onley, who emerged as a champion of disability rights both during and after his seven-year stint as Ontario's 28th lieutenant-governor, died at age 72 on Jan. 14.
He used a motorized scooter throughout his life after contracting polio as a child and was lauded by mourners for always pushing for accessibility rights for all.
His son said Monday that Onley's greatest wish was for all disabled people to have the ability to fully participate in the social, cultural and economic life of Canada. When he became lieutenant-governor, Onley told his son that the legislature wasn't fully accessible.
"I asked him what he was going to do about it," Jonathan Onley said. "His response? 'Well, if they want me, they're going to have to prove it."'
It was David Onley's mantra for the events he attended as lieutenant-governor, his son said.
"He wouldn't accept temporary accessibility measures," Jonathan Onley said. "It needed to be permanent. He wanted to ensure all those who came after him had the same access, the same ability to fully participate."
As a father and husband, David Onley was doting, his son said. He would talk to his family often about baseball and about his faith in God.
"As a kid, I often asked, 'Dad, what do you think heaven will be like?"' his son said. "He told me there is no polio in heaven, and he was excited to run, and that the two of us would play a game of baseball together one day."
Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell said Onley was an inspiration "and a role model without comparison."
"He believed that the lieutenant-governor's office could be a transformational force for good, and he worked daily and tirelessly to realize that possibility," she said in her eulogy.
Onley's story is not just one of adversity, but one of accomplishment, Dowdeswell said. He was a boy from Midland, Ont., known for his "curiosity and desire to learn," and rose to greatness, she said.
"There can be no doubt of David Onley's greatness," Dowdeswell said. "He represented some of the best qualities of who we are as Canadians, qualities that we don't talk often enough about: compassion, empathy, and most of all, kindness."
Premier Doug Ford said Onley's legacy won't soon be forgotten.
"His life of service is a call for each of us to commit to the same values of respect and inclusion, to make Ontario a more welcoming place for disabled people, to make Ontario a more welcoming place for all people," he said.
The funeral was open to members of the public as well as dignitaries.
Neil Hewitt, who attended the same church as Onley, said his father lost the use of one leg due to polio and Onley inspired him.
Joan Miles, another community member who was there to pay her respects, said she admired Onley for his advocacy.
"I appreciated very much his presence on media, on Citytv and the fact that he ... insisted on doing his broadcasting with the (scooter) visible," Miles said.
Melanie Barnett said she is on the autism spectrum and travelled from Oshawa, Ont., to attend the funeral.
"David Onley is a very symbolic figure for people ... with disabilities," she said. "His legacy is to have equality rights for people with disabilities, and to have fully-accessible buildings."
Jaclyn Pope said she is visionally impaired and Onley inspired her to become an accessibility advocate.
"He worked so hard for everybody. He thought of everybody, so we want to continue that," she said after the service. "He impacted my life."
Prior to becoming lieutenant-governor, Onley spent more than two decades working at Citytv as a reporter, joining the station as a weather specialist.
Robert Onley, another one of David Onley's three sons, said Citytv viewers would constantly stop his dad while he was out in public, and he would engage with them, "even if he was halfway through a bite of his New York Fries at the Scarborough Town Centre."
"One time on a very cold January day, just like today, a woman stopped him and asked him for the forecast on her wedding day," Robert Onley said.
"So my dad asked, 'Well, when is the wedding date?' She replied, July 31. Completely unfazed, dad said, 'Well, there's a 50 per cent chance of rain and a 50 per cent chance of sunshine.' The woman smiled and said, 'Thank you,' visibly relieved. Dad was forever the weatherman."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2023.
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in CTV W5's 'What Happened to Ben,' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.
In an effort to keep the foreign interference story at the forefront, and to do an apparent endrun around the Liberal filibuster blocking one study from going ahead, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is forcing MPs to debate and then vote on a motion instructing an opposition-dominated House committee to strike its own review.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's calls for protests ahead of his anticipated indictment in New York have generated mostly muted reactions from supporters, with even some of his most ardent loyalists dismissing the idea as a waste of time or a law enforcement trap.
Officials are still looking for victims after a fire ripped through a building in Old Montreal last week, killing at least one person. At a press conference Monday morning, spokespersons for the Montreal police and Montreal fire department said six people are still missing. They come from various locations in Quebec, Ontario and the U.S.
Some of the world's largest central banks came together on Sunday to stop a banking crisis from spreading as Swiss authorities persuaded UBS Group AG to buy rival Credit Suisse Group AG in a historic deal.
Bargain hunters are one step closer to seeing sales at Nordstrom's closing Canadian locations. At a hearing at Osgoode Hall in Toronto on Monday, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice gave the U.S. retailer's Canadian branch permission to start liquidating its merchandise.
Officials are still looking for victims after a fire ripped through a building in Old Montreal last week, killing at least one person. At a press conference Monday morning, spokespersons for the Montreal police and Montreal fire department said six people are still missing. They come from various locations in Quebec, Ontario and the U.S.
Quebec provincial police (SQ) announced Monday morning that a third person has died in connection with the tragedy in Amqui, in the Lower St. Lawrence region, where a driver drove his pickup truck into pedestrians a week ago.
Lane restrictions are now in place on Wellington Street as construction gets underway on Phase 1 of the Wellington Gateway and Municipal Infrastructure Improvements project.
The first day of spring in the London region will be a beautiful one. The daytime high is forecast to be 6 C, slightly warmer than the average high for this time of year.
A community is in mourning after a 10-year-old girl was killed earlier this week when flames tore through her family’s camping trailer southeast of Brantford.
Waterloo regional police say they arrested nine people for impaired driving over the course of nine hours between 6:30 p.m. on St. Patrick’s Day and 3:30 a.m. on March 18.
A 46-year-old has been taken to hospital with serious, life-threatening injuries after a single-vehicle crash on MR80 near Donaldson Crescent in Val Caron.
Bargain hunters are one step closer to seeing sales at Nordstrom's closing Canadian locations. At a hearing at Osgoode Hall in Toronto on Monday, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice gave the U.S. retailer's Canadian branch permission to start liquidating its merchandise.
Ontario employers who withhold foreign workers’ passports or work permits could face steeper penalties under new labour laws, with maximum fines setting them back up to $200,000.
The Rideau McDonald's Farewell March brought people from across the city, some dressed in costumes, who wanted to say goodbye to a part of what they say makes Ottawa Ottawa.
The University of Prince Edward Island Faculty Association says its staff has gone on strike after what it says are failed attempts to enter additional negotiations with the university's administration.
The student union president at Cape Breton University said food insecurity has become a concern for many students and the on-campus food bank cannot keep up with demand.
The Town of Strathmore and Siksika Nation hosted the first Lead By Example Powwow this weekend in honour of a young Indigenous man who was shot to death four years ago.
Autopsies confirmed gunshot wounds as the cause of death for two constables responding to a domestic dispute Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service says.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
Vancouver firefighters were called to the Downtown Eastside Sunday evening after a fire destroyed multiple tents in an encampment and spread to a building near Main and East Hastings streets.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
An international student was swarmed and beaten by a group of people who ripped off his turban and dragged him across the sidewalk by his hair in Kelowna, B.C., Friday evening, according to a local politician.
Autopsies confirmed gunshot wounds as the cause of death for two constables responding to a domestic dispute Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service says.
