(The CBC posted the following article on its website on March 5.)
MONTREAL – Jean Pelletier plans to sue the federal government for firing him as chair of Via Rail.
Pelletier lost the position just a few days after he belittled Olympic champion Myriam Bédard, calling her a “pitiful” single mother when she went public with concerns she had over the handling of ad agency contracts while working in Via’s marketing department in 2001.
Defence lawyer Suzanne Côté told Montreal-based La Presse that Pelletier requested her services on Thursday.
She told the newspaper she believes the government may have broken labour laws by not asking for his side of the story before firing him.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Paul Martin was expected to fire suspended Via Rail president Marc LeFrançois on Friday for his role in mishandling funds from the sponsorship program.