Jean Pelletier, (; February 21, 1935 – January 10, 2009) was a Canadian politician who served as the 37th mayor of Quebec City, Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister's Office, and chairman of Via Rail. He was a leading organizer of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Early career
Born in Chicoutimi, Quebec, the son of Burroughs and Marie (Desautels) Pelletier, Pelletier was educated at the college des Jesuits in Quebec City and the Séminaire de Trois-Rivières. He studied social sciences at Laval University before working as a journalist with CFCM-TV in Quebec City in 1957. From 1958 to 1958, he was a correspondent with Télévision de Radio-Canada. In 1959, he was the press secretary for the Premier of Quebec, Paul Sauvé.
From 1960 to 1962, he was the executive secretary for the Commission des Monuments Historiques de la Province de Québec, From 1963 to 1964, he was a Technical Advisor to the Secretary of the Province of Quebec. Moving into the private sector, he was a broker for Levesque & Beaubien from 1964 to 1970. From 1970 to 1973, he was a vice president for Dumont Express. From 1973 to 1977, he was vice-president of Action Sociale Ltée. Soon after, Chrétien promised an extra C$700 million to improve Via's service.
On March 1, 2004, Pelletier and Via President Marc LeFrançois were fired by Prime Minister Paul Martin and Transport Minister Tony Valeri. Their dismissals were shortly after the Liberal Party became embroiled in the sponsorship scandal. Pelletier was one of four Chrétien loyalists sacked from jobs at Crown corporations by Martin's government during the sponsorship scandal. Via was accused of skipping mandated procedures in order to hand out contracts to Liberal-friendly firms and individuals. Pelletier, however, was not at Via for most of these occurrences, and the Martin government was accused of using an incident as an excuse to remove one of Chrétien's allies. Eddie Goldenberg said that Pelletier "was very hurt about being fired for saying something about Myriam Bédard without being asked for his side. The whole purpose [of firing him] had nothing to do with Ms. Bédard and everything to do with the fact that Mr. Martin didn't like him because he had worked for Mr. Chrétien".
After the 2006 federal election, Reg Alcock, the outgoing President of the Treasury Board, did approve $40,000 to assist Pelletier with legal fees in a court challenge against the Gomery Commission. Representatives of other parties criticized this payment, saying that the government should only cover legal costs for working civil servants. Pelletier's lawyer argued that it followed a long-standing government policy for high-ranking functionaries in judicial proceedings.
A Federal Court justice ruled in March 2007 that the Martin government acted improperly in 2005 when it fired Pelletier a second time, immediately after a court overturned his first dismissal as head of Via Rail. Justice Francois Lemieux ruled that then-Transport Minister Jean Lapierre, who fired Pelletier the second time, was biased and failed to follow proper procedures. On November 22, 2007, Judge Hélène Langlois of Quebec Superior Court ruled that government of Prime Minister Paul Martin had acted in a "cavalier and precipitous" fashion when it fired Pelletier. Langloise stated, "that behaviour doesn't meet the standard of diligence expected from a contractor when a contractual relationship is ended. It shows a total lack of consideration". Langlois also mentioned that people refused to walk on the same side of the street as Pelletier while others called him names in public. Pelletier was awarded $235,000 in lost income, and a further $100,000 for damaging his reputation. He had sued for $689,000 in financial losses and $3.3 million for moral damages.
On June 26, 2008, federal judge Max Teitelbaum criticized John Gomery for having a preoccupation with the media spotlight that led him to give interviews he should have eschewed, making comments that indicated he judged issues before all evidence was heard, exhibited bias against Mr. Chrétien, and trivialized the inquiry proceedings. For instance, Teitelbaum pointed out that Gomery's remark halfway through the hearings that "juicy stuff" was yet to come made it appear that evidence of wrongdoing was expected before it was heard. The court threw out the Gomery inquiry's conclusions that Chrétien and Pelletier bore responsibility for the sponsorship scandal.
Death
Pelletier died in Quebec City on January 10, 2009, from complications of colon cancer, aged 73. He was survived by his wife, Hélène, and two children.
Honours
In 1985, Pelletier was made a Member of the Order of Canada in recognition of having "played a pivotal role in many social, cultural and philanthropic organizations in the Old Capital". He was promoted to Officer in 2003 in recognition of having "dedicated his life to public service". In 1990, he was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec.