Did Gomery Witnesses Really Have Memory Lapses?

The Ottawa Citizen reports that Justice Gomery has serious doubts about some witnesses who testified during his investigation of the sponsorship scandal - equating their loss of memory with lying.

The headline screams: 'Gomery: Witnesses lied to me'
Judge says he wasn't taken in by convenient lapses of memory

Justice John Gomery says witnesses who forgot key information while testifying during hearings on the sponsorship scandal had "deliberate memory blanks" that are tantamount to lying under oath.

In an exclusive interview with CPAC that airs tonight, Judge Gomery says everyone has memory lapses, especially about unimportant events, but it is another matter when the "forgotten" event is one that has "marked" the person.

"If it is a determining factor in someone's career ... and the witness has absolutely no recollections of this event, we can say 'it is not a memory blank, it is a deliberate memory blank.' It isn't a memory blank. It is a lie to say I do not remember," Judge Gomery says.
[...]
During the inquiry, Jacques Corriveau, a close associate of former prime minister Jean Chretien, said he had a medical condition that affected his memory, and he continually responded "I don't remember," much to the frustration of the inquiry lawyers.

Stepping back from the partisanship of the matter and noting that Gomery has no actual proof that such memory lapses were, in fact, equivalent to 'lying under oath', without knowing what Corriveau's medical condition is one has to ask if Gomery's personal impressions are true.

I have two medical conditions that seriously affect my memory and there are major events in my life that I struggle to remember the details of. You have no idea how difficult it is for me to write simple posts at times which I have to fact check because I'm unable to recall the facts of a situation.

So, can medical conditions affect memory? Absolutely.

Is it fair then for Justice Gomery to assert that witnesses may have lied under oath? Not without supporting evidence, as far as I'm concerned. That's quite a reckless comment for a justice to make.

You can watch an interview with Gomery about these matters this evening:

The 40-minute interview is scheduled to air on CPAC on both its French and English channels between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. tonight.