Judgment seen as vindication for Jean Chrétien

Canada’s Federal Court has struck down a key Gomery Inquiry finding that attributed partial responsibility for the sponsorship scandal to former prime minister Jean Chrétien and his chief of staff, Jean Pelletier.

Today Justice Max Teitelbaum rejected the section of the Gomery report that indicated Chrétien and Pelletier had made mistakes in administering the program.

Teitelbaum said there was an appearance of bias in the Gomery report - released on 2005 - and criticized Justice Gomery’s behaviour.

The sponsorship scandal gained national attention in 2004 after the Auditor General reported on the government’s $250-million advertising program designed to counter Québec separatism.

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