By Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - Former prime minister Jean Chretien is “obviously very gratified and very happy” about a Federal Court decision today that struck down parts of Justice John Gomery’s report into the sponsorship scandal.

Eddie Goldenberg, Chretien’s former chief of staff, said the former prime minister sees the ruling as a “total vindication.” Goldenberg said he spoke earlier today to Chretien, who is attending a meeting with his wife Aline in Stockholm.

The Federal Court struck down Gomery’s 2005 finding that Chretien and his top aide bore some responsibility for the federal sponsorship scandal that rocked the Liberal government.

Justice Max Teitelbaum ruled that Gomery’s inappropriate comments to the media throughout the hearings into the scandal betrayed bias against Chretien and his chief of staff, Jean Pelletier.

Gomery said today he had not yet read the judgment, but that he had not made up his mind during the hearings and was impartial throughout.

“I made a lot of declarations,” the retired judge said in an interview. “I had not decided anything at the time. I considered myself impartial.”

Goldenberg said the Gomery report unnecessarily damaged Canadian unity, undermined trust in institutions and hurt the reputation of the Liberal party.

He added that Pelletier, who suffered ill health because of Gomery, should receive an apology from former prime minister Paul Martin, who established the inquiry.

Teitelbaum’s ruling said “the comments made by the commissioner, viewed cumulatively, not only indicate that he prejudged issues but also that the commissioner was not impartial toward the applicant (Chretien).”

Moreover, Teitelbaum said Gomery’s zeal to remain in the media spotlight trivialized the proceedings and tainted the perception of fairness.

“I agree with the applicant (Chretien) that the commissioner became preoccupied with ensuring that the spotlight of the media remained on the commission’s inquiry and he went to great lengths to ensure that the public’s interest in the commission did not wane,” Teitelbaum wrote in a 51-page ruling.

“This preoccupation with the media outside the hearing room had a detrimental impact on the fairness of the proceedings.”

Teitelbaum set aside the portion of Gomery’s Nov. 1, 2005, report that said Chretien and Pelletier were to blame for “omissions” in their direction of the sponsorship program that led to wrongdoing.

Gomery, however, also ruled there was no evidence Chretien and Pelletier were “in any way” involved in a kickback scheme that a senior Liberal in the province supervised and which resulted in $1.1 million of government sponsorship money being diverted to the Quebec wing of the Liberal party.

Chretien and Pelletier went to Federal Court for a review of Gomery’s findings, even though Gomery ruled they had no knowledge of illegal activity or direct responsibility in cash payments to Liberal organizers.

Teitelbaum offered a scathing assessment of Gomery’s conduct as the head of a public inquiry.

He said Gomery could not be expected to abide by the same rules of conduct that apply to a judge in a courtroom. But even applying a more relaxed standard, he said, Gomery failed in his essential duty to ensure that a reasonable person would find the proceedings to be fair and impartial.

“The nature of the comments made to the media are such that no reasonable person looking realistically and practically at the issue, and thinking the matter through, could possibly conclude that the commissioner would decide the issues fairly,” Teitelbaum said.

He blasted Gomery’s apparent obsession with the media.

“The media is not an appropriate forum in which a decision-maker is to become engaged while presiding over a commission of inquiry, a trial, or any other type of hearing or proceeding,” Teitelbaum said.

“Comments revealing impressions and conclusions related to the proceedings should not be made extraneous to the proceedings either prior, concurrently or even after the proceedings have concluded.”

Courtesy of:http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080626/national/gomery_chretien