By Canadian Press

MPs opt not to study allegation of ‘obstruction of justice’ against Mendicino

Oct 12, 2022 | 1:57 PM

OTTAWA — Members of the House of Commons immigration committee say they will not investigate allegations of obstruction of justice against Marco Mendicino, who was formerly in charge of the file. 

The department’s deputy minister says human error led to a mistake in court filings about the coming into force of legislation creating a new college to regulate immigration consultants.

Government lawyers told a Federal Court judge that the legislation came into force on Nov. 20, 2020 as part of a trademark infringement case — but it didn’t really come into force until more than two weeks later. 

A report by independent media outlet Blacklock’s Reporter last week suggested Mendicino backdated government documents in an “apparent bid to mislead a federal judge.”

The deputy minister insisted in a letter that it was a simple case of human error that was quickly corrected.

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Members of the committee convened an urgent meeting and debated whether they should investigate the error, but the idea was defeated in a five to six vote. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2022. 

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press