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The Federal Court has struck down parts of Justice John Gomery's findings into the sponsorship scandal, and says Gomery displayed a personal bias against Jean Chretien. A former aide for Chretien called the ruling a "total vindication."

Justice Max Teitelbaum ruled Thursday that Gomery, head of a public inquiry into the scandal, made comments to the media throughout the hearings that betrayed a bias against Chretien and his then-chief of staff, Jean Pelletier.

"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 his ruling.

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

Shortly after the hearings began, Gomery gave an interview in which he suggested Chretien's idea of handing out golf balls with his signature was "small-town cheap."

An infuriated Chretien later arrived at the hearing with similar golf balls signed by U.S. President George Bush and former president Bill Clinton.

Teitelbaum also struck down parts of Gomery's findings that found Chretien and Pelletier partly responsible for the scandal. In his Nov. 1, 2005 report, Gomery said Pelletier was heavily involved with choosing the ad agencies. He also said Chretien had been repeatedly cautioned by the Privy Council about the lack of oversight in the program.

However, Gomery stated there was no evidence Chretien and Pelletier were "in any way" involved in the kickback scheme, supervised by a senior Liberal in Quebec, which resulted in $1.1 million of sponsorship funds being diverted to the Quebec wing of the federal Liberal party.

Gomery and the media

Teitelbaum said in his ruling that Gomery failed in his duty to make sure a reasonable person would find the proceedings to be fair and impartial. He blasted Gomery's apparent fascination with the media.

"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 wrote.

"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.

Chretien, currently in Stockholm, Sweden, at a conference, is "very gratified and very happy," his long-time adviser Eddie Goldenberg told reporters in Ottawa.

"It's a total vindication of Mr. Chretien and Mr. Pelletier."

Gomery said Thursday he had not read the Federal Court's ruling but said he had been impartial throughout the sponsorship scandal hearings.

"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."

Martin should 'apologize': Goldenberg

Goldenberg also called upon former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin -- who called the Gomery inquiry when he succeeded Chretien as prime minister -- to publicly apologize to Pelletier.

Pelletier, who is suffering from cancer, was one of four Chretien loyalists fired from jobs at Crown corporations by Martin's Liberal government during the sponsorship scandal. Aside from serving as Chretien's long-time chief of staff, he was appointed Via Rail chairman in 2001.

Goldenberg called Pelletier a man of "enormous integrity," and said he hoped Martin would "show the grace that we know he has" -- and say sorry.

"I would hope something like that would help restore Mr. Pelletier's health," Goldenberg said.

CTV's chief parliamentary correspondent Craig Oliver pointed out the "layers within layers" behind Goldenberg's message.

"A lot of this was about, although nobody quite said it, the civil war within the Liberal Party itself. A civil war which almost destroyed the Liberal party within the province of Quebec," Oliver said on Â鶹´«Ã½net.

"Mr. Martin's advisers persuaded him that the way to win an election was to separate himself as much as possible from the Chretien era, and from (the sponsorship scandal). So he set up the Gomery inquiry against the advice of Chretien and Chretien's people."