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Ottawa, Ont.

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May 16, 2011

Mr. Guy Pratte

Borden Ladner Gervais

World Exchange Plaza

Ottawa, Ontario

K1P 1J9

Dear Mr. Pratte,

The Globe and Mail, in reporting the imminent retirement of Mr. Justice Ian Binnie and Madam Justice Louise Charron, speculated that you are a strong candidate to replace one of the two.

In Canadian Lawyer (Pratte-à –porter, July 2008) you talked about how your father “was never the same” after being fired from Air Canada. I know the feeling, and the pain, but at least Trudeau, before it was too late, tried to make amends if not make things right.

Perhaps that is what your uncle, the Honourable Louis Pratte, and his equally illustrious colleagues at the Federal Court of Appeal tried to do, make things right while there was still time. Justices Pratte, MacGuigan and Marceau did not have to give me their decision it writing. They did it, the Court Clerk who spoke to me on their behalf explained, because a written decision could be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, which they expected me to do. In the Clerk’s own words:

They believe that given the chance you will take this to the Supreme Court, which is why you will be getting the order of dismissal in writing. With this written notification you can appeal their decision to the Supreme Court, asking that Court ‘when there is clear evidence of injustice, is the Federal Court bound by section 28 of the Federal Court Act.’

I would also like to think that if your father had been a Supreme Court Justice at the time, the Right Honourable Chief Justice Brian Dickson might not have been so quick to dismiss my request to be heard with the stabbing words “not a question of national interest”, and thereby avoid answering the question asked by the Federal Court of Appeal.

The country may not have cared, in the Right Honourable Chief Justice Brian Dickson’s opinion, but it was important to me, it was obviously important to your uncle, and it was a question of Justice.

A few years ago, in an attempt to get the attention of a power structure and a system of justice which tends to favour the wealthy and the well-connected, I wrote a book about the events surrounding my dismissal from the Federal Public Service (Foreign Affairs) on bogus insubordination charges and the aftermath (copy enclosed).

In 2010, I made Shooting the Messenger available to the Honourable Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada in the forlorn hope that, after getting acquainted with its content, they might have a remedy that would bring some closure.

Roger Bilodeau, Q.C. responded on behalf of the Court, ending his letter with the suggestion that I “consult a lawyer.”

Early on in the process I did. I could not afford it. To take on the government was just too expensive. Not only the thirthy thousand dollars (in today’s dollars) upfront retainer that was demanded, and which I did not have, but, as I was warned, time and money are of no concern to the government, and I could easily lose everything and be deeply in debt before I was even close to getting the justice I sought. That is why I ended up before the Federal Court of Appeal, then the Supreme Court of Canada with no legal representation.

Making Shooting the Messenger available to anybody that is anybody in Ottawa has not worked. The list of the powers-that-be that could not be bothered is on my website. At my wits’ end, I posted the entire book on my website www.boreal.ca It has attracted international attention, and that worries me, and it should worry the government.

On the off chance that there is an avenue for redress that I have not considered, I am writing to you.

Perhaps, knowing what your father went through, you might be willing to spend some time – not a large amount, we all have to make a living – to see if justice can be had, this late in the day, for someone who is not rich and not well-connected. I may be just grasping at straws but I believe the Prime Minister’s Office would like to see justice done, if only to avoid further damage to the reputation of the Canadian Foreign Service.

Sincerely

_____________________

Bernard Payeur

Enclosed: Shooting the Messenger. The chapter In the Federal Court of Appeal with A Fool for a Client (I have not lost my sense of humour) is where I write about my day before your uncle.