Former Premier of Ontario Bill Davis dies at 92
By Kendall Lanier, CNN
The 18th Premier of Ontario, Bill Davis, passed away on Sunday morning, according to Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He was 92.
“Mr. Davis spent more than 25 years serving his province and was the second longest serving Premier of Ontario. He led the province for 14 years during a transformative time in its history,” Trudeau said in a statement.
Davis, whose full name was William Grenville Davis, was premier from 1971 until 1985.
“As Premier, and as a long-serving Minister of Education, he established TVOntario and oversaw the creation of several new universities and the province’s community college system,” Trudeau said.
Davis established Canada’s first environmental land‑use plan and played a role in the patriation of the Constitution, leading to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Trudeau noted in his statement Sunday.
Davis was also “a skilled statesman,” according to Trudeau, and a man who championed efforts on fundamental issues such as diversity and human rights alongside Trudeau’s father, former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
“In recognition of his many accomplishments, Mr. Davis was sworn in as a member of the Queen’s Privy Council of Canada in 1982. He was invested as a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1986 and as a Companion of the Order of Ontario in 1987, and inducted as a Knight in France’s Legion of Honor in 2001,” said Trudeau.
Trudeau offered his condolences to Davis’s family and friends and referred to Davis as a “remarkable leader.”
Current Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a statement that Davis had served the province “with honour and distinction.”
“While his accomplishments as Premier are too many to list, he will be remembered most for the kindness and decency with which he carried himself every day,” Ford said.
He thanked the Davis family for sharing Bill Davis with Ontario. “We are better for it, and he will be deeply missed by all,” Ford said.
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CNN’s Amanda Watts and Susannah Cullinane contributed to this report.
