John William Grace was the first Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Privacy Commissioner of Canada

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada is a special ombudsman and an officer of parliament who reports directly to the House of Commons and the Senate....

.

He was born in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 and attended St. Patrick's High School

St. Patrick's High School (Ottawa)

St. Patrick's High School, located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, is a Catholic high school publicly funded under the Ontario school system as part of the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board...

 there. His education continued in Ottawa at St. Patrick's College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 diploma and where he was close classmates with Douglas Roche

Douglas Roche

Douglas James Roche, OC, KCSG is a former Canadian politician, He served as Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Edmonton—Strathcona from 1972 to 1979 and for Edmonton South 1979-1984. In 1984, he was appointed Canada's Ambassador for Disarmament, a position he held until 1989...

 and John Turner

John Turner

John Napier Wyndham Turner, PC, CC, QC is an English Canadian lawyer and retired politician, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada from June 30 to September 17, 1984....

 who became federal politicians. Grace then moved to Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 where he attended The Catholic University of America

The Catholic University of America

The Catholic University of America is a private university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops...

. After receiving a Master of Arts

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 there in 1952, he proceeded to Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

 where he earned a Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 at the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 in 1958.

In 1958, Grace returned to Canada and entered journalism, becoming a member of the Ottawa Journal

Ottawa Journal

The Ottawa Journal was a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Ottawa, Ontario from 1885 to 1980.It was founded in 1885 by A. Woodburn as the Ottawa Evening Journal. Its first editor was John Wesley Dafoe who came from the Winnipeg Free Press. In 1886, it was bought by Philip Dansken Ross.The...

's editorial board. He remained with that newspaper until its demise in 1980, two years after he became its chief editor and vice-president. Grace had directed the Journals editorial policy since 1972, after being an associate editor since 1962. Between 1971 and 1977, Grace was also a member of the Canada Council

Canada Council

The Canada Council for the Arts, commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown Corporation established in 1957 to act as an arts council of the government of Canada, created to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. It funds Canadian artists and...

, serving there for two terms. After the Ottawa Journal closed, Grace was appointed to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission as a full-time commissioner.

Grace served a seven-year term as the first Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Privacy Commissioner of Canada

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada is a special ombudsman and an officer of parliament who reports directly to the House of Commons and the Senate....

, starting in 1983. This Canadian federal agency is responsible for supervising the private and public management of personal information. In 1990, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney

Brian Mulroney

Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...

 appointed Grace as the Information Commissioner of Canada

Information Commissioner of Canada

The Information Commissioner of Canada is an independent ombudsman appointed by the Parliament of Canada who investigates complaints from people who believe they have been denied rights provided under Canada's Access to Information Act....

, but by 1992 Grace confronted the Mulroney government regarding its refusal to release the results of government-funded polls regarding national unity. Grace remained Information Commissioner until 1998.

He was a part-time lecturer at the University of Ottawa

University of Ottawa

The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...

 where he was a member of its board of governors for four terms.

Grace died following a heart attack

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

at his Ottawa home on 5 February 2009, aged 82. He was survived by his wife and six children.