OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has tabbed Suzanne Legault to be the new information commissioner.
Legault has been filling the job on an acting basis for almost a year.
The commissioner is an officer of Parliament who oversees the Access to Information system.
She investigates complaints about access requests and mediates disputes between government departments and people seeking information.
Legault is a lawyer who was named an assistant commissioner in 2007 and became acting commissioner last June, when Robert Marleau retired.
She was both a defence lawyer and Crown prosecutor before joining the Competition Bureau in 1996.
She also served as a Justice Department counsel before returning to the bureau as a deputy commissioner.
Harper said Legault is an ideal candidate.
''She brings considerable expertise in access to information and privacy protection issues to the position as well as an in-depth understanding of law and the functioning of government,'' he said in a statement.
Since the commissioner is an officer of Parliament, her nomination will be vetted by a Commons committee.