The federal government has failed in its attempt to overturn a court ruling that invalidated the firing of Jean Pelletier as chairman of Via Rail's board of directors.
The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed Ottawa's motion on Thursday.
But it remains unclear what effect the decision may have on a motion by Pelletier to invalidate his second firing.
Pelletier was initially dismissed from the Via Rail board by the Paul Martin government in March 2004. That move came after Pelletier made insulting remarks about Myriam Bedard, a former Olympian and former Via staffer who had made a series of damaging allegations about the operations of the rail company.
In November of 2005, a Federal Court judge overturned the dismissal, saying Pelletier had been fired without being given the chance to defend himself.
The government then fired Pelletier again in December -- two days after he returned to work -- saying this time it had followed proper notification procedure.
Pelletier served as chief of staff to Jean Chretien during most of his time as prime minister. Pelletier's was one of a series of firings of Chretien associates after Martin took office in December 2003 just as the scope of the sponsorship scandal was becoming apparent.
Pelletier was later harshly criticized by Justice John Gomery for failing to provide adequate oversight to the sponsorship program during his time as chief of staff.
Bedard has made headlines in recent weeks after being charged in of breaching a custodial order. Her former husband alleges she took their 12-year-old daughter to the U.S. in October in contravention of their custody agreement. She was arrested in Maryland just days before Christmas.
Bedard, who won two gold medals at the 1994 Olympics, has said she was forced from her job at Via Rail because of questions she raised about payments made to Quebec ad firms during the sponsorship scandal.
