Short Biography of the Commissioner

John Reid was born on February 8, 1937 in Fort Frances, Ontario. He is married to the former Marie E. Balcaen and they have four children. He received a B.A. in 1959 and an M.A. (History) in 1961 from the University of Manitoba. He continued his studies in History at the University of Toronto from 1960 to 1963.

In 1963 Mr. Reid became the Special Assistant to the Minister of Mines and Technical Affairs. In 1965 he was elected to the House of Commons as the youngest person elected in that Parliament, where he served from 1965 to 1984, through six elections. Among other duties, Mr. Reid served as Chairman of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Broadcasting, Film and Assistance to the Arts (1969 to 1972); Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Privy Council (1972 to 1975); Minister of Federal-Provincial Relations (1978 to 1979) and Chairman of the House of Commons Committee on Procedure and Organization. From 1981 to 1984 he was Co-chairman, Canadian Group, of the Canada - U.S. Parliamentary Association.

As Parliamentary Secretary, Mr. Reid was charged with improving the flow of requested information to MPs. This led him to join forces with Jedd Baldwin, M.P., to work for a general right of access to government-held records for all Canadians. Out of their efforts came a report on information and privacy of the Scandinavian countries, a series of Committee hearings, the first Access to Information Bill introduced by Walter Baker in 1979, culminating in the current Access to Information Act, introduced by Francis Fox in 1983.

In 1984, he started John Reid Consulting, a public policy and government affairs consulting business. He also became the part-time Executive Director of the Forum for Young Canadians, a position he held for 5 years. From 1987 to 1990, he held the position of Founding Chairman for the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians.

Mr. Reid was the President of the Canadian Nuclear Association in Toronto from 1990 to 1995. In 1996, he represented Canada as a senior member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation Europe (OSCE) Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a member of the Provisional Election Commission with responsibility for the writing of an Election Act and its implementation. In 1997, he joined the United Nations Transitional Administration in Eastern Slovenia (Southern Croatia), where he was Political Advisor to the Chief Electoral Officer.

On July 1, 1998, Mr. Reid began his seven-year term as Canada's Information Commissioner.