David Coon, MLA/Député

By Jacques Poitras

Retired New Brunswick Court of Appeal justice Alexandre Deschênes will become the province’s first integrity commissioner, an appointment supported by the opposition Progressive Conservatives and Green Party Leader David Coon.

Premier Brian Gallant’s appointment of retired justice Alexandre Deschênes to the new post of integrity commissioner has the support of the two opposition parties in the legislature. (CBC)

The Gallant government has introduced legislation to merge several legislative watchdog positions into a single job and has chosen a retired judge to take on the newly expanded role.

Alexandre Deschênes, a retired New Brunswick Court of Appeal justice, is to be the first integrity commissioner in New Brunswick.

Retired New Brunswick Court of Appeal justice Alexandre Deschênes will become the province’s first integrity commissioner, an appointment supported by the opposition Progressive Conservatives and Green Party Leader David Coon.

Premier Brian Gallant introduced a bill Wednesday to create the position.

For now, Deschênes fills the vacant position of conflict-of-interest commissioner and will also oversee legislation governing the privacy of personal health records.

Next July, Deschênes will add responsibility for the lobbyist registry to his duties.

The Liberals say they will proclaim legislation to set up the registry by next July. The law was passed by the previous PC government in 2014 but not enacted.

And next September, after Anne Bertrand, the information and privacy commissioner, finishes her seven-year term, that job will become part of Deschênes’s job as integrity commissioner.

An independent study, done as part of the government’s program review, recommended the merging of the legislative officer positions.

All parties in the legislature agreed on two other appointments Wednesday: lawyer Michèle Pelletier as consumer advocate for insurance and assistant deputy attorney general Kim Poffenroth as chief electoral officer.J