Violet Elizabeth Dowdeswell[1][2] OC OOnt (née Patton; born November 9, 1944) is a Canadian civil servant who served as the 29th lieutenant governor of Ontario from 2014 to 2023.

A champion of civil society, environmental protection, inclusive growth and liberal democracy, she is also the longest-serving lieutenant governor in Ontario's history.

[16] In 1992, 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.

[17] From 1998 to 2010, she was an adjunct professor at the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health at the University of Toronto, while also serving as founding president and CEO of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization.

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

[21] According to annual reports published on her office's website, Dowdeswell has conducted, on average, more than 700 public engagements yearly as lieutenant governor, as well as numerous visits abroad to the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark.