Home Newsroom 2005 News releases (archive) 2005-10-21: Appointment of Mr. Paul Kennedy as Acting Chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP

2005-10-21: Appointment of Mr. Paul Kennedy as Acting Chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the Rcmp

Ottawa, October 21, 2005 -- The Honourable Anne McLellan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, today announced the appointment of Mr. Paul Kennedy as Acting Chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP (the Commission) and the re-appointment of Mr. Brooke McNabb as Vice Chair. The Deputy Prime Minister also thanked Ms. Shirley Heafey, the outgoing Chair of the Commission, for her work as Chair since her appointment in 1997.

“The Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP performs a vital function, and Mr. Kennedy and Mr. McNabb are well suited to support and carry out the mandate of this body,” said the Deputy Prime Minister. “I also wish to recognize the dedication Ms. Heafey has brought to the Commission in her role as Chair, and her dedication to responding to complaints and supporting the role of review in our system.”

The Government has asked Mr. Justice Dennis O’Connor, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar, as part of his inquiry to make recommendations concerning an independent, arm’s-length review mechanism for the RCMP’s activities with respect to national security. The Government looks forward to receiving his report and recommmendations.

Mr. Kennedy’s and Mr. McNabb’s biographies are below.

The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP is an independent federal agency established in 1988 to review public complaints about the conduct of RCMP members in a fair and impartial manner.

For more information about the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP (the Commission) please visit their website at www.cpc-cpp.gc.ca.

For further information:

Media Relations Office
Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada
(613) 991-0657

Alex Swann
Director of Communications
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
(613) 991-2863

Paul E. Kennedy
Mr. Kennedy received his B.A. from Loyola College of Montreal in 1969 and his L.L.B. from the University of Western Ontario in 1972. He joined the Toronto Regional Office of the Federal Department of Justice as a criminal prosecutor in 1974.

During a 25 year career with the Justice Department, Mr. Kennedy held a number of increasingly important positions including roles as General Counsel for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and Senior General Counsel in the Federal Prosecution Service.

In November of 1998 Mr. Kennedy was appointed as Senior Assistant Deputy Minister for the then Department of the Solicitor General .He was responsible for providing expert advice and support to the Minister in relation to law enforcement and national security matters. In May of 2004, following the creation of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada, Mr. Kennedy was appointed as Senior Assistant Deputy Minister with responsibility for national security and emergency preparedness, a position that he held until his retirement in May of 2005.

During his 31 years of public service, Mr. Kennedy has played a leadership role in the public safety arena both domestically and internationally. From 1997 to 2005 he was the Canadian Co-Chair of the Canada - U.S. Cross Border Crime Forum, the Chair of the Canadian National Co-ordinating Committee on Organized Crime, Chair of the Assistant Deputy Ministers Committee on Public Safety and Chair of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Commission of the Organization of the American States.

Brooke McNabb
Brooke McNabb served as Vice Chair of the CPC from May 2003 to August 2004. He is a lawyer with diverse experience as a television producer and host, a litigation lawyer in private practice, a mediator and arbitrator, and a professor of Conflict Resolution Studies.

He is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association, the Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Manitoba.

His education background includes a BA from the University of Winnipeg, where he was awarded the Gold Medal in Conflict Resolution Studies, an LL.B from the University of Ottawa Law School and an LL.M. in Alternate Dispute Resolution from Osgood Hall Law School.

Mr. McNabb has been recognized for his enthusiastic support, over the years, of numerous community events and not-for-profit organizations.