10.28.2010 10:19 PM

Justice

Chretien satisfied court ruled in his favour against sponsorship judge (Chretien-Sponsorship)

Source: The Canadian Press

QUEBEC –  Former prime minister Jean Chretien is expressing satisfaction after his successful legal battle against the Gomery commission.

He won a Federal Court of Appeal decision earlier this week that struck down part of the report from the inquiry into the sponsorship scandal.

“He (Gomery) made negative remarks about me and the court has decided that it was wrong and he had acted inappropriately,” Chretien told Quebec City radio station FM 93.

“I’ve been criticized by a lot of people in my life. He was not the only one. I’ve always defended myself.

“Apparently, I’m quite combative.”

The Federal Court of Appeal upheld on Tuesday a ruling which quashed Justice John Gomery’s conclusion that Chretien bore responsibility for the scandal.

Federal Court Justice Max Teitelbaum ruled in 2008 that Gomery, who headed the inquiry, was a biased attention-seeker.

He said Gomery prejudged the outcome of the investigation and trivialized proceedings through repeated inappropriate comments to the media.

The Harper government appealed that ruling but the appeal court dismissed the case and ordered the federal government to pay Chretien’s legal costs.

The sponsorship program was created to raise the profile of the federal government in Quebec after the near-loss of the 1995 referendum on the province’s independence.

But the program became a vehicle for Quebec advertising companies to receive funds for little or no work, some of which was kicked back to Liberal party operatives in the province.

Although he did not directly implicate the former prime minister in any wrongdoing, Gomery concluded that Chretien and his former chief of staff, Jean Pelletier, set up the sponsorship program without adequate safeguards against abuse.

Teitelbaum also quashed the findings against Pelletier but an appeal of that ruling was dismissed after Pelletier died early last year.

INDEX: NATIONAL JUSTICE POLITICS

7 Comments

  1. Jan says:

    Very good news about about Mr. C and Mr. P. Despite this, I suppose the usual inaccurate slagging, from the usual quarters , will continue. The cultural war regarding the judicial system continues unabated.
    Now about that ear – no wonder it was hurting so much. Follow all medical instructions to the t and I hope it heals quickly.

  2. Granny says:

    Good for Chretien, I am glad to hear it. Still my favorite Chretien moment was when he grabbed that creepy coward who had just shoved aside some little Brownies and Guides in order to get at Chretien. I have always got angry when ever I heard people criticize him for that action. As if those little kids were not important. That creep was lucky this old Tawny Owl wasn’t there. I would have fixed him with my arm crutches.

  3. Catherine says:

    “Apparently, I’m quite combative.” But patient.

    Congratulations on the ruling, Mr. Chretien.

  4. Derek Pearce says:

    Oh Paul Martin, what have ye wrought? If he’d allowed a criminal investigation against those involved proceed, he may even still be PM. Alas.

    In other news, on the David Chen front, it looks like the cops recognize his # on their call display…

    http://www.thestar.com/news/article/882824–grocer-thwarts-thief-on-eve-of-verdict?bn=1

  5. Richard says:

    Of course this story will get nowhere near the press that the Gomery inquiry did.

  6. eattv says:

    If only we had him, or someone like him, back.

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