Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s nomination of a new Privacy Commissioner is being challenged by Official Opposition NDP leader Thomas Mulcair. In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mulcair wrote “I have come to the conclusion that Mr. Therrien has neither the neutrality nor the necessary detachment to hold this position.”
Daniel Therrien is currently Assistant Deputy Attorney General, Public Safety, Defence and Immigration Portfolio, at the Department of Justice. In the past he has been counsel for the Solicitor General of Canada, the Correctional Service of Canada and the National Parole Board.
What concerns the Official Opposition leader is that throughout his career Therrien “has helped develop and implement several government initiatives on public safety that have been criticized for their failure to protect our fundamental rights. It would be imprudent to place a former civil servant in charge of warning the public about policies that he helped design and implement.”
In a news release Wednesday (May 28) Prime Minister Harper called Therrien a “well-qualified candidate who would bring significant experience in law and privacy issues to the position.”
The Toronto Star newspaper reports that the Prime Minister’s Office said Therrien was instrumental in negotiations with the United States on cross-border information sharing. The paper points out that the previous privacy commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart, raised serious concerns about this information sharing.
The choice of Therrien has to be confirmed by votes in both the House of Commons and the Senate.
More information:
CBC/Rosemary Barton – PM’s pick of Daniel Therrien as privacy watchdog alarms NDP – here
Toronto Star – Stephen Harper nominates top public safety lawyer for privacy watchdog – here
News release – PM nominates next Privacy Commissioner – here
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