OTTAWA-
Members of the House of Commons immigration committee say they will not investigate the obstruction of justice allegations against Marco Mendicino, who was previously in charge of the case.
The department’s deputy says human error led to an error in court records regarding 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 November 20, 2020 in a trademark infringement case – but it really only came into force over two weeks later.
A report by independent outlet Blacklock’s Reporter last week suggested that Mendicino had backdated government documents in an “apparent attempt 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.
Committee members called an urgent meeting and debated whether to investigate the mistake, but the idea was defeated by a five-to-six vote.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on October 12, 2022.