The body responsible for organizing federal election leaders’ debates has its first-ever executive director.

Former Radio-Canada journalist Michel Cormier has been tapped to lead the operations of the new Canadian Debates Commission, Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould announced Tuesday.

Cormier served as Radio-Canada’s executive director of news and current affairs until retiring in 2018. During the course of his career with CBC-Radio Canada, he spent time as a parliamentary reporter in Ottawa, bureau chief for the Quebec National Assembly and as a foreign correspondent in Moscow, Paris and Beijing.

Gould made the announcement during an appearance Tuesday before the procedure and House affairs committee. She stated in her opening remarks that an executive director had been hired but only revealed the name when asked by Conservative committee member John Nater.

Commissioner spokesperson Jill Clark later confirmed that Cormier was hired on a part-time basis and would work three days a week.

Former governor general David Johnston has already been named the commissioner of the body, which will be responsible for producing two leaders’ debates for the 2019 election — one in English and the other in French. He will serve in the role on a part-time capacity for a term that expires in March 2020.

Gould’s office told iPolitics that Johnston, not the minster, made the hiring decision.

Cormier’s pay level will fall below that of a deputy minister or assistant deputy minister, but will likely fall in the executive-level pay range, said Privy Council chief financial officer Matthew Shea, who accompanied Gould to committee.

Clark later told iPolitics that Cormier fell under an executive pay band that provided an annual full-time salary of between $161,500 and $190,000 in 2017-18, according to the most recent publicly accessible information on salaries for governor-in-council appointees.

When asked, Shea said he didn’t know whether Cormier would serve in a full-time or part-time capacity or the length of his term, noting the commission is an independent body and PCO “doesn’t get overly involved in their HR or finances.”

“We just make sure their bills get paid, they have HR support, but we don’t get into that level of detail and we make it a point not to get involved,” he told the committee.

Gould said the commission would be fully operational by the spring of 2019 and would be led by the commissioner and a seven-member board. There will also be a report produced by the end of March on recommendations for the creation of a possible permanent debates commission.

Nater asked if the PCO or Minister Gould had been in contact with Johnston about consultations on the makeup of the advisory board but Gould said she not aware of anything that the public wasn’t.

Collectively, Gould said the commission would be allocated $5.5 million in funding over a two-year span, with the money to be used for staffing costs, engagement with the public, hiring a production team to produce the debates and other administrative costs.

“We will make sure the commissioner has the resources he needs to make decisions and to be able to carry out his mandate,” she said, adding that the “commissioner will act independently” in handling their duties.

*This story has been updated with new information on Cormier’s salary and employment status, as well as the name of the debates commission.