Prime Minister welcomes new Public Sector Integrity Commissioner

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today welcomed Canada’s new Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, Ms. Christiane Ouimet, whose appointment was recently approved by the Senate and the House of Commons. This appointment will be effective August 6, 2007.

The mandate of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner is set out in the new Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act which entered into force on April 15, 2007. An Agent of Parliament, the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner is responsible for the administration of the new Act, which protects public servants and Canadians who report wrongdoing in the federal government. The Commissioner will conduct independent reviews of disclosures of wrongdoing in an equitable and timely manner, issue findings to enable organizations to take appropriate remedial action and submit annual and special reports to Parliament.

Biographical notes on Ms. Ouimet are attached.

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CHRISTIANE OUIMET

Christiane Ouimet, a lawyer and member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, has had a twenty five year career with the federal government. Since June 2003, she has been serving as an Associate Deputy Minister – first at Public Works and Government Services Canada and more recently at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada.  Prior to that, she held the position of Executive Director of the Immigration and Refugee Board, the largest administrative tribunal in the country. She has worked in eight different departments and agencies, primarily in the area of audit, regulatory affairs, policing and enforcement, quasi-judicial functions and machinery of government.

A graduate of the University of Ottawa, Mme Ouimet has an Honours degree (French letters) and two Bachelors Degrees in Law; one from the Faculty of Civil Law, where she taught part-time early in her career, and the other from the Faculty of Common Law.  She is a member of the Ontario Bar.