Former Ottawa Citizen publisher Russell Mills will be the new chair of the National Capital Commission.

The official announcement of the appointment was to take place Thursday, but a spokesperson for Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon's office confirmed Wednesday Mills will be taking the post.

Russell Mills in 2002, when he was fired as publisher of the Ottawa Citizen.
(CBC)

Transport Canada oversees the NCC, which manages federal properties in the Ottawa-Gatineau area.

Mills is currently the dean of design and media studies at Algonquin College in Ottawa. He will replace Marcel Beaudry, who retired in December after 14 years.

Mills was the publisher of the Citizen from 1986 until 2002, when he was fired by the newspaper's owner, Canwest Global, for printing an editorial asking then prime minister Jean Chrétien to resign without first clearing it with the media chain's head office.

Gilles Paquet, who led the three-member panel that conducted a review of the NCC last year, said that the incident shows Mills has what it takes for the new job.

"He's a man of integrity. He was fired by the Aspers [Canwest Global's owners] for the right things," Paquet said Thursday.

Mills knows Canada well from having run newspapers across the country and has experience running a board, he added.

Paquet served on the board of the Community Foundation of Ottawa when Mills was chair. The non-profit organization provides grants for local community projects and charitable groups.

The NCC review panel released a report in December that called for changes to the executive structure and an end to secrecy. The commission is now preparing to appoint a new CEO and associate CEO.