The past, present and future of
By: THOMAS, Paul G
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Material type: 
ArticlePublisher: Toronto : IPAC, Fall 2003Canadian Public Administration : the journal of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada 46, 3, p. 287-314Abstract: Officers of Parliament were a little-noticed feature of Canadas cabinet parliamentary system until the privacy commissioner was forced to resign in June 2003. This article analyses the past, present and future of these institutions which were created to assist Parliament in holding ministers responsible and the bureaucracy accountable and to protect certain rights of individual Canadians. The fundamental issue is how to balance these offices independence from both the executive and Parliament with an appropriate measure of accountability for their performance. The article examines five structural features that determine the nature of these interactions and suggests that there needs to be greater clarity in these relationships. The primary relationship in terms of responsibility and accountability of officers of Parliament should be with Parliament. Reforms are recommended to recognize and to reinforce the primacy of that relationship
Officers of Parliament were a little-noticed feature of Canadas cabinet parliamentary system until the privacy commissioner was forced to resign in June 2003. This article analyses the past, present and future of these institutions which were created to assist Parliament in holding ministers responsible and the bureaucracy accountable and to protect certain rights of individual Canadians. The fundamental issue is how to balance these offices independence from both the executive and Parliament with an appropriate measure of accountability for their performance. The article examines five structural features that determine the nature of these interactions and suggests that there needs to be greater clarity in these relationships. The primary relationship in terms of responsibility and accountability of officers of Parliament should be with Parliament. Reforms are recommended to recognize and to reinforce the primacy of that relationship
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