A righteous man. Integrated. With a sparkling eye and a teasing smile. A kind man. A native of Montreal. A larger-than-life character. Former judge John H. Gomery died Tuesday at the age of 88.
The message from his daughter, Liz, says it all: “He was a giant, an amazing man and a great father, and my heart and my whole body are in pain now that he’s no longer there. “
John Gomery will have marked History. From 2004 to 2005, he chaired the spectacular commission of inquiry into the scandal surrounding the “sponsorship program” of the Liberal government of Jean Chrétien.
Un legs monumental
Through his pointed questions, we discovered the full extent of a veritable ploy of corruption and embezzlement of public funds at the very top of the government. All under the pretext of “selling” Canada to Quebecers after the close referendum of 1995.
Stuffed with partisan propaganda aimed at favoring the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC), its sponsorship “program” was primarily aimed at illegally filling its coffers. Always out of public funds, he also generously greased the legs of several firms “friends” of the PLC.
The portrait was smelly. The PLC came out of it harshly punished for a decade.
Giving back to society
By exposing this scandal, the Gomery commission and its chairman have largely contributed to cleaning up political mores at the federal level. In itself, it is a monumental legacy.
Long before and after the commission, John Gomery, a humanist and a social democrat at heart, never stopped giving back to society.
Father and grandfather, he was married for a second time to ex-judge Pierrette Rayle, a brilliant lawyer, avant-garde and the first female president of the Bar of Montreal.
Since then, he had settled with his wife in Havelock, in a pretty farmhouse. Also inhabited, we hope, with a deep feeling of accomplishment.
Our most sincere condolences to all those close to him. We will never forget it.
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