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"That sort of thing would never be tolerated in a court of law. Never, never, never!" Mulroney fumed at the insult and his son Ben, the television host, had to be restrained in the audience. "Par- liamentary committees play with peoples' reputations sometimes in a very dangerous and damaging way," says Pratte. "I understand they have work to do, and it is a political forum. I suppose there is a political advantage to be gained from getting a big headline the next morning. "I've said it many times in the Mulroney affair. It should resem- ble an ordinary court." Pratte says. "We should at least try to respect the basic principles of fairness. I wanted to present my- self in politics several times, but my experience as much with Mr. Pelletier as Mr. Mulroney left me discouraged by the performance of certain, but not all, MPs and the lack of concern with which they threw out any sort of accusation." He's at the top of his game now, and although it had Former prime minister Brian Mulroney with Guy Pratte prior to testifying before the Commons ethics committee in Ottawa last December. PHOTO: CP/SEAN KILPATRICK always been assumed he would go into law — call it the family profession: his father and grandfather were both on the Supreme Court, his great-grandfather was on the Quebec Court of Appeal, and an uncle in Federal Court — Pratte says he really wanted to teach. But his marks at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, the private college for Mon- treal's elite, were rather disappointing. Like many young Canadians, a hockey career was in his heart. "He'll never tell you this, but Pratte's greatest ambition was to be a goalie in the NHL. But that went out the window when his school team lost a game 34-0," laughs George Hunter, a colleague at BLG's Ottawa office. So off Pratte went to the University of Western On- tario, where he fell in love with philosophy — philoso- phy of law in particular. He won a gold medal, which helped get him into the University of Toronto. It wasn't until halfway through his master's program that he even thought about becoming a lawyer, but only to make getting a job teaching philosophy of law easier. That led him to the joint civil and common law program at Sherbrooke and Dalhousie universities, not bad for a philosopher. He began his legal career in 1984. Today, Pratte splits his time between the litigation departments of BLG's Ottawa and Montreal offices, earning the re- spect of many colleagues. It was noted Ottawa lawyer David Scott who originally recruited Pratte away from Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP to Scott & Aylen, which later merged with BLG. "He's a very important lawyer in this law firm," notes Scott. Ev- eryone's offices at BLG in Ottawa are the same size, but Pratte sits on the firm's prestigious 11th floor, two doors away from Scott. By way of praise, Scott pretends he's jeal- ous about Pratte's performance at the Gomery inquiry. "Gomery is a source of irritation around here," he says. Political commentator "Ian MacDonald wrote a column that Pratte was the best lawyer at the inquiry. Well I was one of those other lawyers," cracks Scott. "So what am I supposed to do? Sit still and take that? Should I phone Ian and say, 'You're absolutely right?' Look — Pratte is a wonderful lawyer, provided he's not being compared with me," says the senior partner. "Guy has all the qualities of intelligence and good bal- anced judgment and persuasiveness that make him an excellent litigator," says Blakes' Neil Finkelstein, who as counsel for the Gomery commission went head-to- head with Pratte. Interesting cases started coming early in his career, and Pratte talks about them the way a parent waxes on about raising his kids. In 1986, he represented Chateau-Gai Wines Ltd., after some other Ontario wines had shown traces of chemical residue. "My job was to make sure we got exculpated," Pratte recalls. It was — what else? — a commission of inquiry, his first. Pratte pleaded well and cleared the firm of wrongdoing. Justice John Osler said: "Mr. Pratte, this is the best commer- cial I've ever heard for Chateau-Gai Wines." In 1987, he represented René Fontaine, a Franco-Ontarian cabinet minister from Hearst, Ont., at — what else? www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com JULY 2008 33