Gomery Commission - Criticisms

Criticisms

Many commentators criticized the report for various reasons: alleged bias on the part of the commission, the terms of reference with which it was set up, and the use of evidence in the report. Several, including former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Warren Kinsella, and former cabinet minister Sheila Copps, criticized the commission as being little more than an extension of Liberal party infighting.

Gomery was accused by some as being friendly to Paul Martin, and hostile toward Chrétien, and Chrétien's lawyers attempted unsuccessfully to have Gomery removed due to his alleged bias. The two men had long represented a power struggle within the party. Subsequent to the release of the first report, Chrétien took action in Federal Court to review the commission report on the grounds that Gomery showed a "reasonable apprehension of bias", and that some conclusions didn't have an "evidentiary" basis.

Jean Chrétien's lawyers stated that Gomery has made many comments which indicate he had a bias going into the investigation such as comments Gomery made calling Chrétien "small town cheap", referring to the management of the sponsorship program as "catastrophically bad," and calling Chuck Guité, a "charming scamp".

Other allegations of bias concern the commission's chief counsel, Bernard Roy, a former chief of staff to former Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Roy is also a partner in Mulroney's law firm where Gomery's daughter works. Chrétien's lawyers stated that the appointment is a conflict of interest. Roy is a longtime personal friend of the former prime-minister's. Brian Mulroney and Jean Chrétien have had an adversarial personal relationship in recent years since the Airbus affair. The choice of counsel may account for the failure to call some Chrétien friendly witnesses.

During spring 2005, Chrétien legal team made a request to have Gomery removed but it was denied.

Conservative leader Stephen Harper was sympathetic to Chrétien's complaints of bias, stating that the main problem was that the commission's terms of reference did not allow it to investigate Paul Martin's contracting habits as finance minister. Other criticisms concern the lack of powers the commission had to investigate criminal matters, which were being investigated by the RCMP.

Chrétien's lawyers have indicated they are concerned about conclusions which are not based on evidence, but mere extrapolation. Jean Chrétien, on the day the report was tabled in the House of Commons, objected to the findings of the Commission, commenting that Gomery believed the wrong witnesses. "Personally, I believe Jean Pelletier, a man who dedicated his life to the service of his city, his province and his country," said the former Prime Minister, dismissing's Chuck Guité's testimony. Chrétien believes that Gomery's conclusion that the programme was run out of the prime minister's office is wrong.