OTTAWA—International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda appears likely to be formally accused of contempt of Parliament next week — despite her protests on Friday that she was guilty only of “confusion.”

Oda spent two hours before a Commons committee looking into whether she had misled Parliament in a controversy over cutting funds to a religious organization that carries out aid projects abroad.

“I have never nor would I ever jeopardize my reputation nor my integrity,” Oda told the committee. “I have served my constituents and my country honourably, with that same integrity. At no time would I ever intend to mislead anyone.”

At issue is whether Oda deliberately tried to blame bureaucrats for the decision to cut funding for the KAIROS aid group, which appears to have fallen out of favour with the Conservative government in the past couple of years — at least according to remarks made by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

Oda told the committee that her decision to cut KAIROS’ funds was hers alone — with no involvement from cabinet or the Prime Minister’s Office — and it was only because of a “crude” bureaucratic process that she made it seem like her public servants backed the political decision.

As recently as December, Oda maintained she didn’t know who added the word “not” to a document — even though she has now said the order came from her.

“Yes, I will say I could have done a better job,” she said. “There was no intent to mislead.”

Opposition MPs, who control the majority of seats on the Commons committee on procedure and House affairs, were not convinced, indicating that their final report — due Monday — would likely argue that the House should vote to find her guilty of contempt.

It is incredibly rare for ministers to be judged in contempt of Parliament in Canada and a slap of that magnitude could put a dent in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government as it braces for an election campaign as early as next week. The Liberals and New Democrats have signalled that they want Harper’s ethics to be the chief ballot question in any future campaign.

“It’s a contempt,” Liberal House leader David McGuinty said after hearing Oda’s testimony on Friday. His colleague, Liberal MP John McKay, said he heard nothing all day to persuade him that Oda had not misled Parliament.

“She’s a lame minister coming in with a lame defence,” NDP MP Pat Martin said. Because the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois outnumber the Conservatives on the committee, it seems certain that the final report will formally find Oda guilty of contempt. Conservative MPs say this makes these committee proceedings a mere “game” in an effort to play politics in advance of an election.

Oda revealed to the committee, in some detail, how the word “not” came to be inserted in a memo from her bureaucrats at the Canadian International Development Agency, who had originally argued for KAIROS to receive $7 million in government funds.

But the minister said she objected to KAIROS’ plan to spend over $880,000 on advocacy and media strategies, preferring that money went directly to needy people abroad.

The word “not” was pencilled into the memo by Oda’s former chief of staff, Stephanie Machel, after the minister ordered her to do so in a phone call, Oda testified. Then Machel put Oda’s signature on the document with what’s known as the “auto-pen” in the office.

Oda later testified before a Commons committee that she didn’t know who inserted the “not” into the document and she refused to answer questions in the House about the same issue.

Around the same time, Kenney made a speech in Jerusalem, calling Kairos anti-Semitic and hailing the government’s funding cut to the group as evidence of the Conservative battle against anti-Semitism.

Only a couple of weeks ago, facing the Commons’ Speaker’s ruling of possible contempt, did Oda finally admit that she directed the word to be inserted in the public servants’ advice.

She told the committee on Friday that she knows now “I should have provided a fuller explanation of this process.”

KAIROS’ officials also testified on Friday, saying they have asked for an apology from Kenney for calling the group anti-Semitic. Oda, for her part, said Kenney didn’t talk to her about his speech or the funding decision and she learned of his remarks through the media.