The Hon. Elizabeth Dowdeswell took office in September 2014 as the 29th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. This report presents the highlights of her public engagements from April 2016 to March 2017.
A message from Her Honour
As the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, I am pleased to present this illustrative accounting of my public activities of the past fiscal year.
During more than 770 engagements throughout Ontario, I have been fortunate that thousands of Ontarians have shared with me stories of their successes, hopes, and challenges. These stories are inspirational yet all too often remain untold. The voices and visions of Ontarians deserve to be shared, and my humble ambition is to be your Storyteller-in-Chief.
Taken together, these stories say something quite profound about who we are. They articulate the importance of place, and they contemplate what we owe to our roots and how we aspire to transcend our current circumstances. They reveal our generosity and our desire to help others in this world while speaking of the ongoing work that is required at home to build more just and sustainable communities. They remind us of our obligations and opportunities as citizens of Canada and the world and of our responsibility to serve as stewards of the resources we have inherited.
The year 2017 marks the 150th anniversary of Confederation, and is a moment for all Canadians to engage in genuine dialogue about who we are, and wish to be, as a people. I am extraordinarily proud of the contributions that Ontarians, in going about their ordinary lives in extraordinary ways, have made to our understanding of what it means to be Canadian. I greatly look forward to what you will continue to contribute to our national story.
I hope that this report will provide insight into how blessed we are to live in such a special place.