Law Times

LAW TIMES / JUNE 30 - JULY 7, 2008 PAGE 5 Gomery slammed in scathing Chrétien ruling BY RICHARD CLEROUX Law Times OTTAWA — Liberals launched into their old family battles mo- ments after Federal Court Justice Max Teitelbaum handed down an unexpected scathing indictment of Justice John Gomery's findings about former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in his Nov. 2005 com- mission of inquiry report into the federal sponsorship scandal. Teitelbaum last Thursday cleared Chrétien completely of any wrongdoing and slammed Gomery in a rarely seen condemnation by one judge of another judge in a non-criminal proceeding. The 50-page judgment was barely out and Chrétien acolytes and lawyers were holding a news conference gloating over the total victory. Eddie Goldenberg, Chrétien's former chief of staff, said the for- mer prime minister, who was away in Stockholm on business, called it a "total vindication" of his boss. Gomery never said in his report that Chrétien and his principal sec- retary, Jean Pelletier, were crooks. He had accused them of ''omis- sions" — not being vigilant enough where they should have been. Despite this, the pair went to Fed- eral Court to restore their reputa- tions and attack Gomery for being biased and poking fun at them during the commission hearings. Goldenberg said former prime minister Paul Martin, who set up the inquiry, owed Chrétien and Pelletier apologies. At press time, Goldenberg said he spoke to Chré- tien, who was "very gratified and very happy" about the decision. Teitelbaum ripped apart Gomery. He accused him of outright bias, of being obsessed with the media, of trying to stay in the spotlight, and of tainting the perception of fairness in the eyes of the public. Teitelbaum also said Gomery should never have given his famous Christmas break interviews while the inquiry hearings were still going on. "The nature of the comments made to the media are such that no reasonable person looking real- istically and practically at the issue, and thinking the matter through, could possibly conclude that the commissioner would decide the is- sues fairly," Teitelbaum wrote. Teitelbaum added Gomery had "prejudged the issues" and his obsession with being in the media spotlight had trivialized the work of the commission. "Comments revealing impressions and conclu- sions related to the proceedings should not be made extraneous to the proceedings either prior, con- currently or even after the proceed- ings have concluded," he said. Teitelbaum ruled that Gomery's inappropriate comments to the media throughout the hearings into the scandal showed bias against Chrétien and Pelletier. He wrote that Gomery should never have called Chrétien "small-town cheap" for hauling out golf balls during the hearings. "I made a lot of declarations," Gomery told reporters. "I had not decided anything at the time. I considered myself impartial." Teitelbaum ruled there was no evidence that Chrétien and Pelle- tier were "in any way" involved in a sponsorship kickback scheme that sponsorship money for the Quebec wing of the Liberal party. LT Untitled-2 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 5/30/08 9:17:46 AM

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