Jean-Pierre Kingsley (born July 12, 1943) is a Canadian civil servant and businessman who served as the president and CEO of the

International Foundation for Electoral Systems The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) is an international, non-profit organization founded in 1987. Based in Arlington, Virginia, the organization provides assistance and support for elections and electoral stakeholders in ne ...

(IFES). He was the chief electoral officer of

Elections Canada Elections Canada (french: Élections Canada)The agency operates and brands itself as Elections Canada, its legal title is Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (). is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering Canadian federal electio ...

before he stepped down in December 2006. On April 28, 2009, he announced his resignation as president of IFES. He was succeeded by Bill Sweeney.

Early life and career

He was born in Ottawa in 1943. He was educated at the Académie De La Salle and went on to earn a

BCom A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa ...

and a master's degree in Hospital Administration from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...

. Kingsley was named chief electoral officer in February 1990 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Prior to serving in that position, he served as: * District manager for Travelers Insurance (1966-7) * Head of hospital administration at the Department of Veteran Affairs (1967–71) * Associate and then executive director of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

's Charles Camsell Hospital (1971-3) * President and chief executive officer of the

Ottawa General Hospital The Ottawa Hospital's General Campus is one of three main campuses of The Ottawa Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. With 569 beds, the General Campus includes The Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre and the Cancer Centre. The Ottawa General H ...

(1977–81) He also served as chairman of the Board for Ottawa's

Montfort Hospital Montfort Hospital (french: Hôpital Montfort), commonly shortened to Montfort in both languages, is a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Ottawa. It offers short-term primary and secondary health care, with communications in both ...

from 1982 to 1990.

Late career

He served as head of the international team observing the Iraqi legislative election in January, 2005 On December 28, 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Kingsley would step down effective February 17, 2007. His successor as chief electoral officer was Marc Mayrand. Prior to his resignation, Kingsley and the ruling

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

party disagreed over whether fees paid to attend political conventions should be counted as political donations. In 2007, Kingsley was awarded the Mexican

Order of the Aztec Eagle The Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle ( es, Orden Mexicana del Águila Azteca) forms part of the Mexican Honours System and is the highest Mexican order awarded to foreigners in the country. History It was created by decree on December 29, 1933 ...

, the highest award the Mexican government bestows on foreign nationals. In November 2011, he observed the elections in Saint Lucia, as part of a Commonwealth assessment team constituted by the Commonwealth secretary-general. As of November 2020, Kingsley serves as the chairman of the Executive Advisory Committee for

Dominion Voting Systems Dominion Voting Systems Corporation is a company that sells electronic voting hardware and software, including voting machines and tabulators, in the United States and Canada. The company's headquarters are in Toronto, Ontario, and Denver, Colo ...

References

Sources

IFES - Board

Entry from Canadian Who's Who
1943 births Canadian civil servants Chief Electoral Officer (Canada) Living people Businesspeople from Ottawa {{Canada-gov-bio-stub