Guité wants first crack at Gomeryreport

Former federal bureaucrat does not want anything to prejudice trial

MONTREAL •

Charles (Chuck) Guité, one of the central figures of the sponsorship scandal, wants an advance look at the Gomery commission report to weed out parts that could prejudice his trial on fraud charges, scheduled for next year.

Mr. Guité, the former senior federal bureaucrat who was in charge of the sponsorship program when alleged irregularities occurred, will request the extension of a publication ban on some testimony at the commission hearings last spring.

He also wants a chance to review the commission report before its release next month to determine if parts of it could prejudice the jury in his trial. He further requests a publication ban on any such passages of the report.

A motion to that effect will be heard today by the inquiry commissioner, Justice John Gomery, who typically rules quickly on such requests. If he declines, a similar request will be put to Justice Fraser Martin, the designated judge for Mr. Guité’s trial.

Mr. Guité is jointly charged with Jean Brault, former head of the Groupaction advertising agency, with five counts of fraud and one of conspiracy in connection with the badly mismanaged sponsorship program.

Federal Auditor-General Sheila Fraser reported last year that $100-million of the $250-million program intended to promote Canadian federalism in Quebec after the 1995 sovereignty referendum went to a number of Quebec ad firms without evidence that work was actually done.

Mr. Guité and Mr. Brault were to stand trial last spring, but the trial is now scheduled to begin on May 1. The first part of Gomery report is to be released on Nov. 1.

In his notice of motion requesting leave to preview the Gomery findings, Mr. Guité’s lawyer, Richard Auger, maintains that the subject matter of the report will inevitably overlap with evidence the Crown will bring against his client.

“It is anticipated that the Gomery report will make findings of fact specifically about the applicant [Mr. Guité], the manner in which he performed his duties and indeed his credibility and reliability,” Mr. Auger wrote.

During the commission hearings in Montreal last spring, Judge Gomery issued a publication ban on parts of the testimony by Mr. Brault, Mr. Guité and former adman Paul Coffin relating to dealings they had with each other that could potentially infringe on their right to a fair trial.

Coffin pleaded guilty last month to 15 counts of fraud and was given a conditional sentence of two years less a day to be served in the community with a curfew.

Mr. Brault’s lawyer, Harvey Yarosky, will also appear at today’s hearing but he declined to specify yesterday what his request will be.

Lawyer Mark Bantey will also appear for Montreal’s The Gazette to argue against any further publication bans.