Canada nominates new Privacy Commissioner

Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, announced yesterday the nomination of Daniel Therrien as the next Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Mr. Therrien is currently Assistant Deputy Attorney General, Public Safety, Defence and Immigration Portfolio, at the Department of Justice. Mr. Therrien holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Licence en droit from the University of Ottawa. He has been a member of the Quebec Bar since 1981.

As set out in the Privacy Act, this appointment must be approved by a resolution of the Senate and House of Commons. The Government will be tabling this nomination for referral to the appropriate Standing Committee.

Chantal Bernier, who has been serving as Interim Privacy Commissioner since December 2013, was thanked by the Prime Minister for her dedication and service to Canadians.

PL&B International Report and PL&B Annual International Conferences keep you up to date on Canada’s privacy news and issues. Next month, PL&B’s 27th Annual Conference will feature two presentations by Elizabeth Denham, Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia. She will be talking about ‘Converting accountability into credible building blocks for consumers and regulators’, and her publication ‘Guidelines for Social Media Background Checks’ which provides rules for organizations that scan social media as part of their background checks for employees, in her role as chair of the session ‘A path from chaos to good order for employees’ use of social media’. See the programme.

The June/July issue of PL&B International Report will include an article about Canada’s new anti-spam legislation by Professor Colin Bennett. Subscribe.