I received my first anonymous source today (or, rather, information from a source that asked to remain anonymous). Now I feel all cloak and dagger.
So, my source says:
What is this? Well, it’s a biography for a partner of the lawfirm Ogilvy Renault, Ms. Sally A. Gomery.
Ms. Gomery’s practice includes general commercial litigation, particularly insurance, professional liability and administrative law. She is Ottawa Chair of the Firm’s Litigation Group.
Ms. Gomery has appeared before the trial and appeal courts of Ontario and Quebec, the Federal Court, and the Tax Court of Canada. She has represented clients before numerous administrative tribunals, including the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, provincial and federal access to information commissioners, the Ontario Municipal Board, the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Medical Council of Canada.
Ms. Gomery articled at the Supreme Court of Canada, then worked as a litigation lawyer in Montreal before joining the Firm’s Ottawa office.
And what is this?
It’s a news report from Radio Canada talking about the start of the independent inquiry into AdScam, headed by Judge John Gomery. The (poor) translation is here.
Well, I guess that is an interesting coincidence. Is Sally Gomery John’s daughter, perhaps?
Also interesting is this (translated) comment:
It is Bernard Roy, of the lawyer firm Ogilvy Renaud, which will act as prosecutor as a head of the commission.
Looking around the web, I do find a connection between Ogilvy Renault and Brian Mulroney, which is also interesting.
Googling Sally Gomery pulls up a few of the cases she took on, including this one made on behalf of Deloitte and Touche in 1999 against the department of Public Works and Government Services under the provisions of NAFTA. The complaint was subsequently dismissed.
All very interesting, but I’m no journalist. I don’t even know if Sally Gomery and John Gomery are related. But, as my source said, it is an interesting coincidence.
Update: Fri, Oct 8, 2004, further investigation confirms that Ms. Gomery is John’s daughter. However, the more I look at this story, the more I think it’s just a plain coincidence. Ogilvy Renault is a large legal firm in Ottawa, after all; one of the largest.
Still, as the source says, it’s an interesting coincidence.