Department of Justice

STATEMENT BY THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF JUSTICE

May 26, 1997 -- Mr. George Thomson, Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of Canada made the following statement:

“Today's newspaper reports on the three deportation cases currently before the Supreme Court of Canada have raised issues concerning a memorandum by Department of Justice Senior General Counsel Christopher Amerasinghe.

Department of Justice counsel will be arguing the case at the public hearing of the appeal on June 26 and it would therefore not be appropriate for me to comment in detail, other than to clarify certain facts relating to Mr. Amerasinghe's memorandum and Mr. Dubin's report.

On May 28, 1996, I wrote to the Honourable Charles Dubin, former Chief Justice of Ontario, asking him to carry out an internal inquiry within the Department of Justice on communications between Mr. Ted Thompson and the Chief Justice of the Federal Court. I attach a copy of my letter to Mr. Dubin. Among the documents provided to Mr. Dubin was the memorandum prepared by Mr. Amerasinghe and referred to in today's newspaper reports. Mr. Dubin carried out an independent investigation, conducting extensive interviews with Mr. Thompson, Mr. Amerasinghe and other Justice officials. In his report submitted on August 26, 1996, Mr. Dubin found an error of judgment by Mr. Thompson in failing to give notice to counsel for the Respondents. While he felt the behaviour was properly motivated, he determined that it departed from the standards expected of Departmental employees. He recommended that Mr. Thompson step down from his position as Assistant Deputy Attorney General - Civil Litigation and that he serve the Department in another capacity.

Mr. Dubin has confirmed he reviewed all the allegations, including the allegations about Mr. Thompson raised in Mr. Amerasinghe's memorandum. As is clear from the report, he relied on the direct evidence he received in reaching his conclusions. Mr. Dubin concluded that Mr. Thompson had not engaged in inappropriate behaviour other than that which is commented on in his report.

As to the matter of the conduct of the two judges, it is not appropriate for me to comment. Mr. Dubin was not asked to review the conduct of the judges involved and did not interview the judges. This is the role of the Canadian Judicial Council and the conduct of both judges has been the subject of review by the Council. Mr. Thompson was interviewed by the CJC counsel as part of those reviews. However, to ensure that it has the full record, a copy of the internal documents released by the Department of Justice has been provided to the Canadian Judicial Council”.

Ref.:  Wendy Sailman
       Communications Branch
       Department of Justice
       (613) 957-4211