Jean-Pierre
Kingsley was born July 12, 1943, in Ottawa. He was educated
in Ottawa, receiving a B.A. in Commerce and a Master's
degree in Hospital Administration from the University
of Ottawa. Before undertaking graduate studies, he worked
for a year with IBM and over a year with Travelers Insurance.
Since his appointment as Canada's Chief Electoral Officer
in February 1990, he has been responsible for the management
of all federal electoral events, including the 1992
federal referendum, the 1993, 1997 and 2000 general
elections, and numerous by-elections. Jean-Pierre Kingsley
has instituted significant changes within the Elections
Canada organization, as well as orchestrating and implementing
major electoral reforms. Among his major accomplishments
as Chief Electoral Officer are the development of the
National Register of Electors (permanent voters list)
and the introduction of computer use in all areas of
electoral administration, from digitized geocartography
to local field office communications and management.
His accomplishments have contributed to Elections Canada's
reputation as a world leader in electoral management.
Before
his nomination by the House of Commons as Chief Electoral
Officer of Canada, he held a variety of other positions
in both the private and public sectors, notably:
•
Executive Director of Edmonton's Charles Camsell Hospital
in the early 1970s, where he redefined the hospital's
mission to include clinical teaching and added the
Edmonton community as a target group;
• President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ottawa
General Hospital (1977-81); he spent the first three
years overseeing the building of the new hospital
and the last year making the hospital fully functional
as a tertiary care teaching and research facility.
Following
that, he was appointed:
• Deputy Secretary (Program Evaluation), Ministry
of State for Social Development (1981-84);
• Deputy Secretary, Personnel Policy Branch, Treasury
Board Secretariat (1984-87);
• Assistant Deputy Registrar General, Department of
Consumer and Corporate Affairs (1987-90). In this
post he was responsible for administering the conflict
of interest code for Cabinet ministers, parliamentary
secretaries, Governor in Council appointees and ministers'
exempt staff.
He
was also a member and Chairman of the Board of the
Montfort Hospital in Ottawa from 1981 to 1990. In
1992, on behalf of the United Nations, he chaired
an international meeting of countries supporting democratic
development.
He
is currently a member of the board of the International
Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) as well as
a member of the International IDEA (Institute for
Democracy and Electoral Assistance) electoral management
body.
He
is co-chair of the International Advisory Council
to IFES.
Jean-Pierre
Kingsley is married to Suzanne Potvin, and they have
three children – Marie-France, Justin and Michèle.
