New archbishop for Toronto: CEN 10.23.09 p 6.

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.   The Anglican Bishop of Toronto has been elected metropolitan archbishop of the ecclesiastical province of Ontario. Bishop Colin Johnson was elected on the second ballot at the Oct 15 provincial synod held in Cochrane, Ontario. He is the fourth metropolitan archbishop elected in the Anglican Church of Canada this year. On Sept 25 the ecclesiastical province of British Columbia and Yukon elected the Bishop of Kootenay, the Rt Rev John Privett as archbishop of the western Canadian province. This follows upon the Sept 11 election of the Bishop of Fredericton, the Rt Rev Claude Miller as Archbishop of the ecclesiastical province of Canada, and the June 11 election of the Bishop of Keewatin, the Rt Rev David Ashdown as Archbishop of the Province of Rupert’s Land.

Archbishop Johnson succeeds Archbishop Caleb Lawrence, the Bishop of Moonsonee whose term as metropolitan of the province which included the dioceses of Moosonee, Algoma, Ontario, Ottawa, Toronto, Niagara and Huron, ends in October.

Archbishop Johnson was educated at the University of Western Ontario and received his ministerial training at Trinity College, Toronto. Ordained deacon in 1977 and priest in 1978 by the Bishop of Toronto, Archbishop Johnson served in parish ministry from 1977 to 1992 when joined the staff of the Bishop of Toronto as his Executive Assistant. In 1994 he was appointed Archdeacon of York, and elected area-bishop of Trent-Durham in the diocese in 2003.   In 2003 he was elected diocesan bishop.

“I feel very honoured and apprehensive in some ways about the workload, but challenged by the position and looking forward to serving,” Archbishop Johnson told the Anglican Journal, adding that he hoped as archbishop he would be a provincial voice calling for the government to combat poverty and social inequality.