Little Privacy For Grit Choice Quebec Watchdog May Replace Radwanski
Quebec's privacy commissioner is the hand-picked choice to replace disgraced George Radwanski as Canada's privacy watchdog. Jennifer Stoddart, president of the Quebec Privacy and Information Commission, will be nominated by Government House Leader Don Boudria this morning. She will be scrutinized by the powerful all-party government operations and estimates committee -- the same group that forced the resignation of Radwanski this summer -- and a Senate committee over the next 30 days before she is officially appointed through a vote in the House of Commons. NDP MP Pat Martin said the candidate can expect a grilling from the government operations committee, which is obliged to do a better due diligence process than the one that screened Radwanski. "There has never been such a highly publicized mistake as there was with Radwanski, and we're bound and determined to ensure it doesn't happen again," he said. Martin said the committee will be "ruthless" in leaving no stone unturned -- including probing the candidate's tax records. Radwanski received a $500,000 tax write-off just before his appointment was finalized. Robert Marleau, the interim privacy commissioner, is set to table a report that tallies how much Radwanski and staff cost taxpayers. | 
