Former Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente appointed to judicial committee

Former Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente has been appointed to a committee that assesses prospective Superior Court judges.

Wente was appointed earlier this month to the Independent Judicial Advisory Committee for Ontario, Greater Toronto Area, after being nominated by the Law Society of Ontario.

An order in council says she will hold the position until May 1, 2023.

Wente, who took a buyout from the newspaper in 2019, has long been a controversial figure.

The award-winning columnist has faced allegations of plagiarism in recent years.

Following complaints in 2012, the Globe’s public editor examined one of Wente’s columns and found some of it seemed to have been copied from another source.

Wente apologized at the time for her “lapses” but denied she was a serial plagiarist.

Years later, the Globe issued an apology saying more of Wente’s columns had failed to properly attribute material.

Last year, Went resigned an appointment with a Toronto college following backlash from students and staff.

A petition signed by students, faculty, staff, alumni, and donors had called for Massey College to revoke the appointment over Wente’s writing on race as well as the plagiarism allegations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2021.

The Canadian Press