17 Facts About Elizabeth Dowdeswell

Violet Elizabeth Dowdeswell Patton was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on November 9,1944.

Elizabeth Dowdeswell moved with her family to Canada in 1947, settling in rural Saskatchewan.

Elizabeth Dowdeswell's father, Desmond Granville Patton, was a minister of the United Church of Canada.

Elizabeth Dowdeswell attended the University of Saskatchewan and Utah State University, and she later became a teacher and university lecturer.

Elizabeth Dowdeswell left teaching and entered public service as a special assistant to Saskatchewan's deputy education minister for two years, then worked as deputy minister of culture and youth during the New Democratic Party government of Allan Blakeney.

Elizabeth Dowdeswell was then dismissed, along with other deputy ministers, after the Progressive Conservative government of Grant Devine took power in 1982.

Elizabeth Dowdeswell 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.

Elizabeth Dowdeswell led a public inquiry into Canada's unemployment benefits program and federal water policy.

In 1992, Elizabeth Dowdeswell was selected to lead the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi, Kenya, serving a full four-year term and a one-year extension until she resigned in 1998.

Elizabeth Dowdeswell was appointed as lieutenant governor by Governor General David Johnston on the advice of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who selected Elizabeth Dowdeswell from a shortlist devised by the Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments.

Elizabeth Dowdeswell is the third woman to serve in the position, after Pauline Mills McGibbon and Hilary Weston.

Elizabeth Dowdeswell declared in her installation address that she would not immediately espouse a particular area of focus during her time as lieutenant governor.

Elizabeth Dowdeswell has since adopted "sustainability" and "Ontario in the world" as personal themes.

Elizabeth Dowdeswell has visited all of Ontario's provincial electoral districts.

Elizabeth Dowdeswell's mandate came to an end on November 14,2023, and she was succeeded by Edith Dumont.

Elizabeth Dowdeswell had the additional style of Her Honour while in office.

Elizabeth Dowdeswell has received several honorary degrees from various universities in Canada and Europe.