OTTAWA – The House of Commons has confirmed the appointment of Stephane Perrault as the new chief electoral officer.

Perrault has held the job in an acting capacity since December 2016.

The chief electoral officer is head of Elections Canada, reporting directly to Parliament and is charged with operating fair and efficient elections.

The appointment is for a 10-year term.

Perrault, a lawyer, holds a doctorate in constitutional law from the University of Montreal.

He spent more than 20 years as a senior executive and lawyer in a number of federal organizations.

He joined the public service in 1997 as a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada and moved to the Justice Department in 1998. He became senior general counsel for Elections Canada in 2007 and has filled a number of positions in the agency, including associate chief electoral officer.

He replaces Marc Mayrand, who left in 2016. During the last years of his tenure, Mayrand quarrelled publicly with the then-Harper government over some of its election reform proposals.

Perrault’s appointment came as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the nomination of Heather Lank for the post of parliamentary librarian.

Lank comes from the Senate administration, where she filled a number of senior roles, including principal clerk of the operations and procedure office.

She holds both a masters degree and a doctorate in sociology from the University of Toronto.