PRIME MINISTER ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT TO THE SECURITY INTELLIGENCE REVIEW COMMITTEE

November 13, 2003
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien today announced the appointment of the Honourable Roy Romanow as a member of the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC).

Mr. Romanow, former Premier of Saskatchewan from 1991 to 2001, is a Senior Fellow in Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan and at the University of Regina, and is also a visiting Fellow in the School of Policy Studies at Queen's University. In April 2001, Mr. Romanow was appointed head of the Commission on the future of Health Care in Canada.

In accordance with the requirements of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act, Mr. Romanow was sworn into the Queen's Privy Council of Canada.

Established in 1984, SIRC provides an external review of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's performance of its duties and functions. It also examines complaints by individuals or reports by Ministers relating to security clearances and the national security of Canada. The Committee is required to report annually to Parliament through the Solicitor General.

This appointment is effective immediately.

Biographical notes on Mr. Romanow are attached, as is a complete listing of SIRC members.

-30-

Members of the Security Intelligence Review Committee

The Hon. Paule Gauthier of Québec City, Quebec (Chair) 
The Hon. Gary Filmon of Winnipeg, Manitoba 
The Hon. Raymond A. Speaker of Enchant, Alberta 
The Hon. Baljit S. Chadha of Montréal, Quebec 
The Hon. Roy Romanow of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Biographical Information

Roy Romanow was born, raised, and educated in Saskatoon. He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan where he earned his Arts and Law Degrees. He was first elected to the Saskatchewan Legislature in 1967. Between 1971 and 1982, Roy Romanow served as Deputy Premier of Saskatchewan.

Throughout those 11 years, he also served as Saskatchewan's Attorney General, and was responsible for the introduction of a number of justice system reforms, including: the introduction of a provincial legal aid plan; the creation of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission; the introduction of a Saskatchewan Human Rights Code; and the creation of the Provincial Ombudsman's Office.

In 1979, Mr. Romanow was appointed Saskatchewan's first Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. He was one of the key players in the federal-provincial negotiations which resulted in the Constitutional Accord of November 1981. In 1984, he co-authored a book on those negotiations, Canada... Notwithstanding.

Mr. Romanow also served as a member on the Canadian Medical Association Task Force on the Allocation of Health Care Resources from 1983 to 1985.

On November 7, 1987, Mr. Romanow was acclaimed Leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party. On October 21, 1991, Mr. Romanow won a 55 seat majority government, and assumed the duties of Premier on November 1, 1991.

Mr. Romanow's government introduced a number of fiscal, economic and social reforms. These included an expansion of the ground-breaking Action Plan for Children, the introduction of the Building Independence strategy to help move families off social assistance, and enhancements to the provincial health care system.

Mr. Romanow retired from politics in February 2001.

In April 2001, Mr. Romanow was appointed a Senior Fellow in Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regina, and is also a visiting Fellow in the School of Policy Studies at Queen's University.