Published: Tuesday, January 13, 2009
QUEBEC - Jean Pelletier, the former chief of staff and close friend of Jean Chretien, said in his last interview before his death that the former Liberal prime minister's archrival - Paul Martin - is a "bastard" and a "despicable" man.
"I have nothing but contempt for him. And you know that in the Robert dictionary, there's a word for a despicable man - a bastard. And, in my book, Paul Martin will always be a bastard," Pelletier told Quebec City newspaper Le Soleil in a series of interviews to be published after his death.
Pelletier, a former mayor of Quebec City, had been battling cancer and died on Jan. 10.
Jean Chretien's ex-chief of staff, Jean Pelletier, died on Jan 10 at age 73. In his last interview, he refered to former prime minister Paul Martin as a bastard.
Patrick Doyle/Reuters
The newspaper noted Pelletier talked at great length about the infighting in the Liberal party during Chretien's leadership.
Pelletier said Martin was disloyal to his boss and kept working behind the scenes to replace Chretien despite Pelletier's warnings.
Although Pelletier was never found guilty of any wrong doing, as Chretien's troubleshooter, he was linked by association to the scandal that involved throwing money at Quebec after the 1995 referendum in an attempt to buy federalist loyalty.
QUEBEC - Jean Pelletier, the former chief of staff and close friend of Jean Chretien, said in his last interview before his death that the former Liberal prime minister's archrival - Paul Martin - is a "bastard" and a "despicable" man.
"I have nothing but contempt for him. And you know that in the Robert dictionary, there's a word for a despicable man - a bastard. And, in my book, Paul Martin will always be a bastard," Pelletier told Quebec City newspaper Le Soleil in a series of interviews to be published after his death.
Pelletier, a former mayor of Quebec City, had been battling cancer and died on Jan. 10.
Patrick Doyle/Reuters
The newspaper noted Pelletier talked at great length about the infighting in the Liberal party during Chretien's leadership.
Pelletier said Martin was disloyal to his boss and kept working behind the scenes to replace Chretien despite Pelletier's warnings.
Although Pelletier was never found guilty of any wrong doing, as Chretien's troubleshooter, he was linked by association to the scandal that involved throwing money at Quebec after the 1995 referendum in an attempt to buy federalist loyalty.
