THUNDER BAY -- Ontario’s Lieutenant-Governor is on a tour to find ordinary people doing extraordinary things around the province.
On Thursday Elizabeth Dowdeswell began a whirlwind visit to Thunder Bay, stopping to visit a local art gallery, before travelling to city hall, meeting with Nishnawbe Aski Nation officials and a quick sojourn to Marina Park.
The 70-year-old former under- secretary-general to the United Nations said during her tour she heard about plenty of challenges faced across Ontario, but has also heard about plenty of success stories along the way.
“They all are very similar. People talk about the need to find effective economic opportunities and innovation. They talk about environmental stewardship and they talk about some of the problems we have in bringing about real social cohesion,” said Dowdeswell, who was taken around town on the city’s recently unveiled art bus.
“How do we really do our best for our citizens in our communities?”
The details differ from community to community, she added, but essentially the underlying message is the same.
“The wonderful thing for me is that I get to see first-hand and talk to people, but then I get to share those stories from community to community. What it does, I think, is to validate people’s experiences, to say we may not be that different that other parts of the province,” said Dowdeswell, who was born in Northern Ireland in 1944, but moved to Canada in 1947, her family taking up residence in rural Saskatchewan.
“But we’re also very special, and that’s what I like, when communities talk to me about what’s really special about what’s going in the communities.”
What can Dowdeswell do with the information once it’s collected?
Essentially all she can do is pass it on to elected officials.
Her office is largely apolitical and neutral. But there are things a Lieutenant-Governor can do, she said.
“And that is to shine a light on issues that are of importance to people. We do so in a way that transcends politics,” Dowdeswell said.
“We can bring people together to talk about issues, to learn about them, and then hopefully to mobilize people, to motivate them to do things in whatever way they can. We can showcase and we can share those kinds of stories.”
