Appointment of Ivan Zinger as acting Correctional Investigator of Canada

Ottawa, December 22, 2016 – The Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, issued the following statement:

“I am pleased that Mr. Ivan Zinger has been appointed to the position of Correctional Investigator. As the current Executive Director and General Counsel for the Office of the Correctional Investigator, Mr. Zinger brings years of experience and dedication to this role. I look forward to working with him and the Office in continuing to fulfill the Government’s commitment to ensure Canada’s federal correctional system remains fair, humane and effective.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Howard Sapers for his invaluable and dedicated service over the past twelve years.”

The duration of this appointment is for a term of one year or until such time that a new Correctional Investigator is appointed. It will be effective as of January 1, 2017. An open, transparent, and merit-based selection process to find a new Correctional Investigator will be launched in due course.

For more information on the Office of the Correctional Investigator of Canada, please visit: http://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/index-eng.aspx.

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For more information, please visit the website www.publicsafety.gc.ca.

Information:

Scott Bardsley
Office of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
613-998-5681

Media Relations
Public Safety Canada
(613) 991-0657

Biography of Dr. Ivan Zinger

Dr. Ivan Zinger received his degree in Common Law from the University of Ottawa in 1992, and completed his articles of clerkship at the Federal Court of Canada. In 1999, he obtained his Ph.D. at Carleton University (Ottawa) in Psychology of Criminal Conduct. He is an Adjunct Professor with the Law Department at Carleton University.

Dr. Zinger joined the Public Service of Canada in 1996.  He held a variety of senior managerial, policy and research positions in public safety-related federal departments and agencies. In 2004, he joined his current employer, the Office of the Correctional Investigator (Federal Prison Ombudsman), and in 2009 he became the Executive Director and General Counsel. As of January 1, 2017, Dr. Zinger was appointed as Correctional Investigator of Canada pursuant to section 161 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.

Over the years, Dr. Zinger has developed expertise in domestic and international human rights law in prison settings. His academic publications are significant and include articles on a variety of subjects, including prison oversight, ethics, dangerous offenders, correctional treatment, the diagnosis of psychopathy, conditional release, penal segregation and the impact of tough on crime measures on corrections. 

Dr. Zinger is the recipient of the 2014 APEX Partnership Award for “making communities safer by building strong and effective partnerships across the country and abroad, contributing to the development of more effective correctional practices in Canada.”  This prestigious award is one of six presented annually by the Association of Professional Executives in the Public Service of Canada (APEX).