Angela Longo - 2010
Deputy Minister
Health Promotion
Province of Ontario
The Honourable David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and the Hamilton, National Capital Region and Toronto Regional Groups of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada are pleased to announce the award of the 2010 Lieutenant Governor’s Medal of Distinction in Public Administration to the late Angela Longo, past Deputy Minister, Health Promotion, Ontario.
The Lieutenant Governor’s Medal of Distinction was presented posthumously to family and friends of Angela Longo by the Honourable David C. Onley at a ceremony in Toronto on Wednesday April 13, 2011.
Angela’s devotion to public administration began in 1976 with her experience as a member of Ontario’s inaugural group of Legislative Interns. At the conclusion of the internship program, Angela accepted a series of positions, working first for the Legislative Assembly, and then as a policy advisor to two government cabinet ministers. She moved from those early positions to hold a range of progressively senior positions in a number of ministries and agencies ending with her appointment to Deputy Minister in Small Business and Consumer Services and later in Health Promotion.
Creativity and innovation were hallmarks of Angela’s leadership. In each portfolio, her natural instincts to question, to probe and analyze were evident. Angela placed a high value on relationship building, both with staff and with stakeholders. Her leadership style was highly collegial and inclusive. She was a talented manager who could be tough and decisive when required and worked her staff as hard as she worked herself. She was remembered, however, for her extraordinary commitment to coaching and mentoring young professionals in the public sector.
As a volunteer, Angela served on the Boards of St. Stephen’s Community House and Central Neighbourhood House where she was an inspiring leader and effective and strong advocate on behalf of clients and community.
Both inside government and externally, Angela stood as a role model for the best that the profession has to offer. She brought the highest standards of governance, openness, and accountability to her work. Angela was known as a system ‘fixer’, driven by a passion to improve public service. Her nomination was supported by testimonials from colleagues inside and outside the public service who noted her many accomplishments. All referred to her sharp intellect, high moral and ethical values, compassion, discipline, honesty, and professionalism.
Angela Longo leaves a remarkable legacy of achievements, both inside and outside the OPS: a vibrant Ontario film industry with the Toronto International Film Festival as its crown jewel; a legal aid system firmly focussed on its core business of providing services to those who otherwise could not afford representation; a modern harmonized corporate tax collection system; a culturally-strengthened Francophone community through Télé- Française d'Ontario(TFO); greater accountability within many Ontario agencies; better protected Ontario consumers; help for women and families in crisis through a restructured Family Responsibility Office and expanded Domestic Violence Court program.
Since 1990, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario with the Hamilton, National Capital Region and Toronto Regional Groups of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada have encouraged and recognized excellence in public service in Ontario by awarding the Lieutenant Governor’s Medal of Distinction in Public Administration. The IPAC Hamilton, National Capital Region and Toronto Regional Groups celebrate the late Angela Longo’s achievements in public administration with her family, friends and past colleagues.
