John W. Grace

John W. Grace
Born
John William Grace

(1927-01-06)6 January 1927
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Died5 February 2009(2009-02-05) (aged 82)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Alma materSt. Patrick's College
The Catholic University of America
University of Michigan
Known forFirst Privacy Commissioner of Canada
SpouseRuth Herbert (m. 1954-2009)[1]
Children3 daughters, 3 sons[2]

John William Grace (6 January 1927 – 5 February 2009) was the first Privacy Commissioner of Canada.[3][4]

He was born in Ottawa, Ontario and attended St. Patrick's High School there. His education continued in Ottawa at St. Patrick's College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts diploma and where he was close classmates with Douglas Roche and John Turner who became federal politicians.[1] Grace then moved to Washington, D.C. where he attended The Catholic University of America. After receiving a Master of Arts there in 1952,[1] he proceeded to Ann Arbor, Michigan where he earned a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan in 1958.[1][3]

In 1958, Grace returned to Canada and entered journalism, becoming a member of the Ottawa Journal's editorial board. He remained with that newspaper until its demise in 1980, two years after he became its chief editor and vice-president. Grace had directed the Journal's editorial policy since 1972, after being an associate editor since 1962.[3][5] Between 1971 and 1977, Grace was also a member of the Canada Council, serving there for two terms. After the Ottawa Journal closed, Grace was appointed to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission as a full-time commissioner.

Grace served a seven-year term as the first Privacy Commissioner of Canada, starting in 1983.[3] This Canadian federal agency is responsible for supervising the private and public management of personal information. In 1990, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney appointed Grace as the Information Commissioner of Canada,[3][5] but by 1992 Grace confronted the Mulroney government regarding its refusal to release the results of government-funded polls regarding national unity.[6][7] Grace remained Information Commissioner until 1998.

He was a part-time lecturer at the University of Ottawa where he was a member of its board of governors for four terms.[5]

Grace died following a heart attack at his Ottawa home on 5 February 2009, aged 82.[2][8]

  1. ^ a b c d Martin, Sandra (7 February 2009). "He preferred persuasion to regulation". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved 10 February 2009. [dead link‍]
  2. ^ a b "John Grace". Legacy.com. 7 February 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d e Kennedy, Brendan; Cockburn, Neco (6 February 2009). "Ex-journalist first privacy commissioner John Grace dead at 82". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 6 February 2009. [dead link‍]
  4. ^ Stoddart, Jennifer (6 February 2009). "Message". Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Archived from the original on 24 February 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  5. ^ a b c "John W. Grace biography at Carleton University". Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  6. ^ "Remarks for COGEL Conference – Seminar on Commissioner "Styles"". San Francisco, California: Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada. 7 December 2004. Archived from the original on 17 July 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  7. ^ Levine, Allan Gerald (1993). Scrum Wars: The Prime Ministers and the Media. Dundurn Press. p. 341. ISBN 978-1-55002-191-2. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  8. ^ "John Grace, former privacy commissioner, dies at 82". CTV Ottawa. 6 February 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2009.