George Radwanski

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George Radwanski is a former public servant, policy advisor, journalist and author. He is best known for having served as Privacy Commissioner of Canada until he was forced to resign over misleading expense claims; he was later charged with fraud by the RCMP. Prior to his appointment as Privacy Commissioner, Radwanski had had a twenty year career in journalism followed by a career as a policy advisor.

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[edit] Journalism

In 1965 he began working as a reporter for the Montreal Gazette subsequently becoming a columnist, associate editor and national affairs columnist for the paper. He then moved to the Financial Times of Canada where he worked as a national affairs columnist and Ottawa editor. In the late 1970s he went to the Toronto Star where he served as editorial page editor and then editor-in-chief.

In his journalism career, Radwanski won two National Newspaper Awards for editorial writing. In 1978, he published Trudeau, a best-selling political biography of then-Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau.

[edit] Radwanski Report

Radwanski left the Star in 1985 to accept an appointment by Ontario Premier David Peterson to head up an inquiry for the Ministry of Education into Ontario's drop-out report.

Radwanski's findings were published in 1987 as the Ontario Study of the Relevance of Education, and the Issue of Dropouts commonly known as the Radwanski Report. Radwanski concluded that the education system had become irrelevant due to the economy's shift from manufacturing to services. He found that students were uninterested in what they were being taught and did not gain the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in a modern economy.

He issued a series of recommendations including the implementation of early childhood education, standardized testing, "destreaming" of high schools, an "outcome-based" education and the replacement of the credit system with a common core curriculum.

Several of his recommendations were taken up by subsequent governments including destreaming in grade nine (though not later), an outcomes-based curriculum in grades 1 to 9 and standardized testing at various levels.[1]

Following his study, Radwanski became a public policy and communications consultant in both the public and private sectors. In 1996 he was appointed by the federal government to conduct a review of Canada Post Corporation's mandate.

Radwanski also served as a speech writer to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, who later appointed him Privacy Commissioner.

[edit] Privacy Commissioner

As Privacy Commissioner, Radwanski was outspoken in his criticism of increased surveillance by the state in the wake of the 9-11 attacks early in his tenure and the subsequent "War on Terror". In his annual report in the months following 9-11, he asserted:

"The fundamental human right of privacy in Canada is under assault as never before. Unless the Government of Canada is quickly dissuaded from its present course by Parliamentary action and public insistence, we are on a path that may well lead to the permanent loss not only of privacy rights but also important elements of freedom as we now know it..."
"The Government is, quite simply, using September 11 as an excuse for new [surveillance databases] that cannot be justified by the requirements of anti-terrorism and that, indeed, have no place in a free and democratic society..." [2]

Radwanski was forced to resign in 2003, less than half way into his seven year term. This was following criticism by Auditor-General Sheila Fraser into Radwanski's spending habits. An investigation by a parliamentary committee found that he racked up $500,000 in improper travel and hospitality expenses and misled the Canadian House of Commons over lax spending practices in his office. The committee also accused Radwanski of falsifying a document sent to it, and passed a resolution declaring him to be in "contempt of Parliament" as a result. Radwanski's $82,562 pension was reduced to nothing in the government's bid to recoup some of these costs.

On March 15, 2006 he was charged with fraud and breach of trust following a 26-month long Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigation into his expense claims while a public servant. [3]

[edit] Personal

Radwanski earned degrees in political science and law from McGill University.

His son, Adam Radwanski, is a political affairs columnist for the Globe and Mail website.

[edit] External links