The Gomery commission has moved to Quebec, where there has been a surprising rise in sympathy for Jean Chrétien. In the past, he often seemed an embarrassment there. The shift came after he went mano-a-mano with the commish. In media interviews, the judge had taken pokes at him as “small-town cheap” for handing out personalized golf balls. The ex-PM swiped back on the stand by producing balls from U.S. presidents and the judge’s daughter’s law firm.

Over a third of Canadians now say the judge is biased against the ex-PM, but that rises to nearly half in Quebec. What is behind this image rehab? Might it owe something to echoes of another clash in Montreal 50 years ago: Maurice (Rocket) Richard v. Clarence Campbell, at a time when hockey often embodied political tensions in Quebec?

Clarence Campbell was the stiff, anglophone president of the National Hockey League. His office was in Montreal. Near season’s end, the Rocket — called the “idol” of his people — swung at an official and the prez suspended him for remaining games and the playoffs. Then the prez had the gall to show up at the Forum for a game. There were no corporate boxes, he was exposed — in his stubbornness, arrogance or villainy — to all. A tear-gas grenade was tossed, the lights went out, the game was cancelled, the crowd spilled into the streets and rioted. It was the main explosion of Quebec nationalist fervour between the Second World War and the Quiet Revolution.

From the photos, John Gomery even looks a bit like Clarence Campbell. Jean Chrétien is no Rocket. Yet he has a small-town pugnacity, a thin-skinned readiness to drop the gloves (recall how he “took out” a protester on Parliament Hill), and a fierce desire to win, which burned uniquely in the Rocket. It’s true that the judge speaks French, but as one imagines Clarence Campbell would have. And interviewed in the shelter of his office, he did manage to humiliate the ex-PM, who fought back, in the judge’s face, on the stand, as the Rocket, I think, would have.

To buy these echoes, I guess it helps if you believe in the Jungian collective unconscious and the archetypes that inhabit it. But hey, the provincial or, as they say in Quebec, national motto is Je me souviens. One of the big projects financed by the sponsorship program was a TV series on Rocket Richard. Oh, and next Thursday is the 50th anniversary of the Richard riot. Archetypes, anyone?

But enough of Jungian subterfuge. Speaking as a Maple Leafs fan from Toronto, let me say I don’t much like John Gomery, either. He admitted he shouldn’t have given those interviews. So why did he? He isn’t some kid hypnotized by seeing himself on the monitor when he walks into Shoppers. Is he suffering from Sheila Fraser syndrome: overstimulation at being declared a media hero? And on the job, he looks like a bully. He sat and took it while Jean Chrétien pulled out those balls, openly taunting him. But with top civil servant Alex Himelfarb, who affects a certain timidity and is caught in a tight spot between the current PM and his former boss, the judge goaded him about a “conspiracy of silence.” He has 14 commission lawyers to raise such points but seems to like leaning on people himself.

He indulges in the usual judgely baloney of cracking jokes that the lawyers must pretend to find funny. I know he is widely supported by opinion-makers, including The Globe and Mail editorial writers, but they are people who feel comfortable with being judgmental, too; they do it for a living. Ordinary folks are warier of the genus, since they are the ones usually being judged. That may be one reason the Chrétien support has risen.

Most people before a judge lack the resources and confidence to take him on. Think of Jim Driskell, released the same day the latest Chrétien suit was launched. He sat in jail for 13 years and shouldn’t have been there. Think of O.J.; he, too, had the resources to challenge the system. The point is not that he, or Jean Chrétien, should not get to challenge the system simply because they have wealth or privilege. They should — but so should everyone else, too.

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Rick Salutin

Rick Salutin is a Canadian novelist, playwright and critic. He is a strong advocate of left wing causes and writes a regular column in the Toronto Star.