Auditor General Karen Hogan Appoints Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

Auditor General Karen Hogan Appoints Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

Ottawa, 14 January 2021—The Auditor General of Canada, Karen Hogan, has appointed Jerry V. DeMarco to join her executive team as Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD). Mr. DeMarco will officially step into his new role with the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG) on 1 February 2021.

Mr. DeMarco is a leading Canadian expert with over 25 years of experience in the field of environmental policy and law. Before joining the OAG, he served as Commissioner of the Environment and Assistant Auditor General in the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario. Prior to that appointment, he presided over hundreds of public environmental hearings and oversaw several administrative justice organizations at the federal and provincial levels, including the Environmental Protection Tribunal of Canada.

Mr. DeMarco has authored hundreds of adjudicative decisions on environmental matters, as well as many publications on environmental protection and law. Early in his career, he helped set important precedents before the Supreme Court of Canada. He was also the first recipient of the City of Toronto’s award for environmental leadership. Additional information about Mr. DeMarco’s accomplishments is available on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada’s website.

“I look forward to working with Mr. DeMarco to carry out those aspects of the Auditor General’s mandate that relate to sustainable development and environmental management in government, and to continue integrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into the work of my office,” said Ms. Hogan. “I also want to thank Andrew Hayes, Deputy Auditor General, for his service as interim Commissioner over the last 18 months.”

The position of Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development was established in 1995 by amendments to the Auditor General Act. Acting on behalf of the Auditor General, the CESD audits the government’s management of environmental and sustainable development issues, reviews the sustainable development strategies of individual government organizations and of the federal government as a whole, and administers and reports on environmental petitions. This work provides parliamentarians and Canadians with objective and independent analysis and recommendations on the government’s efforts to protect the environment and foster sustainable development.

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