About Justice John Gomery:
Justice John Gomery is the blunt, no-nonsense Montrealer who led the Gomery Inquiry, the independent public inquiry into the Canadian federal government sponsorship program scandal. Irregularities in the $250-million sponsorship program to boost the federal government profile in Quebec after the sovereignty referendum in 1995 hit the public spotlight in 2002, when the Auditor General released a special audit and recommended RCMP investigations.
Official Title:
Commissioner of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities
Term of Appointment:
Appointed February 19, 2004. The Commissioner's final report and recommendations were published in February 2006.
Birth:
August 9, 1932 in Montreal, Quebec
Education:
- BA - McGill University, Montreal
- BCL - McGill University, Montreal
Professional Background of John Gomery:
- John Gomery was admitted to the Quebec Bar in 1957.
- John Gomery joined the law firm now called Fasken, Martineau, Dumoulin in 1957 and specialized in family law, commercial litigation and bankruptcy. Gomery became a partner in Fasken, Martineau, Dumoulin in 1966.
- He was named Queen's Counsel in 1972.
- In 1982, John Gomery was appointed to the Quebec Superior Court for the district of Montreal.
- He was appointed president of the Copyright Board of Canada in 1999. His appointment was renewed for another three years in 2002. John Gomery continued as a Justice of the Superior Court at the same time.
- John Gomery has been active in committees of the Canadian Bar Association and the Quebec Bar.
- He has been President of the Comité Général des Juges de la Cour supérieure du Québec, President of the Family Law Committee from 1983 to 1993 and a member of the Rules of Practice Committee since its inception.
