The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s External Advisory Committee’s representation reflects the myriad of public policy perspectives critical to proposing a balanced view on privacy and personal information protection. Members of the Committee are consulted on specific questions by phone, e-mail and through personal meetings. They may also be consulted, from time to time, at group meetings on institutional-level initiatives.

Members of the External Advisory Committee include:

• Professor Carlisle Adams, Associate Professor in the School of Information Technology and Engineering at the University of Ottawa. Professor Adams also worked for 13 years in design and standardization of cryptographic and security technologies for the Internet.
• The Honourable Perrin Beatty, President and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters. Mr. Beatty is a former federal cabinet minister and was also president and CEO of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
• Dr. Colin Bennett is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Victoria. He has given addresses and papers on a variety of subjects in Canada and around the world. He is author of The Privacy Advocates, 2008, The Governance of Privacy: Policy Instruments in Global Perspective, 2006 and Regulating Privacy: data protection and public policy in Europe and the United States, 1992. Dr. Bennett has completed policy reports for a number of organizations, including the Canadian Standards Association, the Standards Council of Canada, Industry Canada, and the European Commission.
• Professor Paul-André Comeau is a professor with the École nationale d’administration publique in Montreal. He served as President of the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec from 1990 to 1995. Professor Comeau also worked as a correspondent for Radio-Canada assigned in Brussels, as well as Editor-in-Chief for Le Devoir. He taught at the University of Ottawa and was a guest lecturer in political science at the Université Laval, Quebec City.
• Ms. Jocelyne Côté-O’Hara, President of The Cora Group, has been a leader in developing strategic directions in both the private and public sectors. She has spent the last 20 years as a corporate director, executive and CEO in the telecommunications and high tech industries. Prior to this, she held several positions in the federal government.
• The Honourable Claire L’Heureux-Dubé, C.C., c.r., is a former Supreme Court Justice. Her 50-year career in law focused on family law and human rights.  She was President of the Quebec Association of Comparative Law, Chairman of the Canadian Section of the International Commission of Jurists and International President of the International Commission of Jurists, based in Geneva.
• Professor David Flaherty is a specialist and consultant in the management of privacy and information policy issues. He served as Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia from 1993 to 1999. Professor Flaherty has written or edited several books and articles on privacy and is adjunct professor in political science at the University of Victoria since 1999.
• Ms. Mary Anne Griffith is a former Deputy Clerk of the House of Commons and served the Canadian public service for nearly 30 years. Ms. Griffith is currently a consultant and advisor to governments and their agencies, both federal, territorial and municipal, in Canada and abroad, in the areas of parliamentary procedure and operations, and public administration.
• Professor Michael Geist is a law professor at the University of Ottawa where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce law. Professor Geist is also a nationally syndicated columnist on technology law issues and the author of the Canadian Privacy Law Review.
• Mr. Wayne MacDonald works as a Privacy and Access to Information manager with the Government of Alberta, and has specialized knowledge related to the administration of privacy and access to information legislation. Mr. MacDonald was instrumental in the creation, implementation and delivery of Canada’s first online privacy and access to information certificate program at the University of Alberta.
• Mr. Mark J. McArdle is a seasoned technology executive with more than 18 years of global product development experience, including over 10 years at McAfee Inc. in California. Mr. McArdle was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of tinyHippos Inc., a mobile application environment emulation startup, until its acquisition by Research in Motion. Mr. McArdle is a graduate of the Ivey Business School’s Executive Program at the University of Western Ontario and has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Waterloo. He holds six US patents relating to Internet security.
• Mr. David McKendry is a consultant specializing in consumer affairs and communications regulation. He was a CRTC Commissioner from 1997 to 2002. He is also former chair of the Canadian Standards Association’s privacy committee of business, consumer, government and labour representatives, which developed Canada’s national standard for the protection of personal information.
• Ms. Loreena McKennitt is a self-managed Canadian singer/composer and successful business woman, who, through her independent record label, has won critical acclaim worldwide. Ms McKennitt, a recipient of the Order of Canada and the Order of Manitoba is recognized not only for her artistic accomplishments, but her charitable and civic activities. In 2006, she was involved in a landmark human rights privacy case in Britain, where the courts ruled in her favour.
• Mr. Richard C. Owens is the Executive Director of the Centre for Innovation, Law and Policy at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law. He is one of Canada’s leading technology lawyers and has written and published widely on the law of information technology, privacy and the regulation of financial institutions.
• Mr. Jean-François Renaud is associate founder of Adviso Consulting Inc., a company specializing in Internet strategy and web marketing. He obtained a masters degree in electronic commerce from HEC Montreal, where he now teaches.
• Ms. Teresa Scassa, S.J.D., is a professor at the University of Ottawa’s faculty of law and currently holds a Canada Research Chair in Information Law at the university.  Prof. Scassa has written widely in the areas of intellectual property law, law and technology, and privacy.  She is a former editor of the Canadian Journal of Law and Technology, author of the book Canadian Trademark Law and co-author of Electronic Commerce and Internet Law in Canada. She holds undergraduate law degrees in civil and common law from McGill University, as well as an LL.M. and an S.J.D. from the University of Michigan.
• Dr. Paul Thomas is the Duff Roblin Professor of Government in the Department of Political Studies at University of Manitoba, where he has taught for more than 30 years. He has published articles and books on topics such as accountability, budgeting, crown corporations, federalism, organizational change, parliamentary reform and party caucuses.
• Mr. George Thomson is Senior Director of International Program with the National Judicial Institute. Prior to this he was the Institute’s Executive Director. Mr. Thomson has also been Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of Canada, Ontario Deputy Attorney General, as well as Deputy Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Citizenship with the Province of Ontario.

May 2006 notice expanding the External Advisory Committee

February 2004 notice launching the External Advisory Committee