The Provincial Government has appointed Retired Supreme Court Justice Robert Fowler to conduct a review of the statutory offices that report to the House of Assembly. Justice Fowler will review the structure, reporting and accountability of the statutory offices of the House of Assembly and prepare a report that includes recommendations.

The Honourable John Hogan, KC, Minister of Justice and Public Safety and Attorney General, will be available to media at 1:00 p.m. today (Monday, December 5) outside of the House of Assembly to discuss this review.

Statutory offices operate independent of government. They are also not directed by Cabinet or ministers. Given the need to operate independently from the Provincial Government, the offices report directly to the House of Assembly. The statutory offices being reviewed include:

• Commissioner for Legislative Standards
• Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
• Office of the Child and Youth Advocate
• Office of the Citizens’ Representative
• Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
• Office of the Seniors’ Advocate

The Auditor General is excluded from this review, as the Auditor General Act was updated in 2021 to improve accountability for public bodies in the province. The Auditor General is subject to robust performance oversight by Auditors General across Canada and reports to the Public Accounts Committee.

The full terms of reference for this review can be found in the backgrounder below. The review is anticipated to take approximately six months.

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BACKGROUNDER

Terms of Reference

The Consultant shall review the structure of the Statutory Offices of the House of Assembly, with the exception of the Office of the Auditor General, and prepare a report that includes recommendations for the following:

• The minimum required competencies for each statutory officer;
• The number of statutory offices and whether a statutory officer could fulfil the obligations of more than one statutory role; which offices/statutory officers could be combined based on common objectives, functions, qualifications, clients etc.;
• Whether each Statutory Office requires the dedication of a full-time statutory officer or whether it could be part-tine or on an as-needed basis;
• How each statutory officer should be recruited, appointed, re-appointed, compensated, disciplined, and removed from office;
• How to manage conflicts which arise between Statutory Offices, who should investigate alleged misconduct of a statutory officer, and how that investigation should be conducted (internally, externally, independent ADR etc.).
• Whether and how quality assurance and performance of each statutory officer/Statutory Office should be measured and overseen;
• What is an appropriate administrative oversight model for the Statutory Offices, inclusive of financial management, human resources management, information management, procurement, and any other “back office” functions; structure;
• Whether physical space and administrative functions could be shared among Statutory Offices; and
• Where reports from each Statutory Office should be directed, such as whether any of the reports of the Statutory Offices should go to a standing or select committee of the House of Assembly for review and analysis.

The Consultant may seek input from current and former statutory officers, the Clerk of the House of Assembly, the Clerk of the Executive Council, the Management Commission of the House of Assembly and any others that may be necessary to inform the Terms of Reference.