Embattled city council member Brian Skakun is accusing a colleague of failing to tell the truth when she took the stand during his trial on a charge of violating provincial privacy legislation.
In an affidavit accompanying a petition filed last week seeking a court injunction against city council's plan to hold a censure hearing against him, Skakun states Coun. Debora Munoz "fabricated evidence during the trial in order to damage my reputation."
No elaboration is provided in the affidavit and when reached Tuesday, Skakun declined to comment on the advice of his lawyer.
"As much as I'd like to talk about certain issues, I just can't," Skakun said.
Both Munoz and Skakun's lawyer, Jon Duncan, are away on vacation and could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Skakun was fined $750 on May 24 for leaking a confidential report, written by a labour lawyer, concerning the conduct of a top manager at the Prince George RCMP detachment, to a local media outlet.
In finding Skakun guilty, provincial court judge Ken Ball accepted the evidence of Munoz and rejected the testimony of Skakun given during the trial where there was a conflict between the two.
At particular issue was the differing dates Munoz and Skakun provided for when he handed the document over to CBC, which posted it on its website for a brief period on Aug. 19, 2008.
Skakun admitted in court he leaked the report but maintained he took the action sometime before Aug. 14, 2008, and therefore more than a year before the charge was laid thus invalidating the proceeding.
But in a meeting at Munoz's place of work where Skakun admitted to her he took the action, Munoz recalled him saying he handed the report over the day before it was post by CBC.
Ball noted Munoz wrote notes of the conversation not long after it took place and found those notes to be accurate. He also found her testimony, when she took the stand, to have been given in a "clear and straightforward manner."
In contrast, Ball said he found Skakun's lawyer, Jon Duncan, led the witness, when dealing with the date the report was leaked, which "diminished any weight which this court might attribute to this testimony."
A copy of the report, submitted as evidence in the trial, carried a fax header which indicated it was in CBC's possession the day before it was posted, Ball also noted.
During the trial, city manager Derek Bates has testified that at a meeting with him and then-mayor Colin Kinsley, Munoz said she was concerned over her safety and had knowledge of Skakun's "past behaviour," including the slashing of tires.
Munoz had testified she'd known Skakun for eight years, and they'd lived with each other for eight months before separating in the run-up to the 2005 municipal election.
City seeking legal advice on Skakan petition
The City of Prince George has not decided how it will respond to the latest twist in the legal battle regarding councillor Brian Skakun.
On Aug. 10 Skakun filed a petition to the B.C. Supreme Court seeking an injunction to prevent city council from censuring him until the appeal of his conviction is heard.
"I'm certainly aware this action has taken place. We respect the courts, as we have throughout this process," Mayor Dan Rogers said. "Council will review this and will find out what this means. We need to better understand what this means to better respond."
On May 24 Skakun was convicted of violating provincial privacy laws by leaking a confidential city report to the CBC.
On July 25 city council voted to proceed with a censure hearing against Skakun. The plan was to schedule the hearing sometime in mid-September, Rogers said, but those plans may change as a result of Skakun's petition.
In addition to postponing the censure, Skakun's petition requests that Rogers and councillors Don Bassermann, Murry Krause and Debora Munoz be excluded from all considerations of a possible censure. All four gave testimony at Skakun's trial and Munoz was the key witness in the case against Skakun.
"From where I sit today, I don't see how going to court and swearing to tell the truth would be a conflict of interest," Rogers said.
However, he added, the city is seeking legal advice on what steps it will take next.
The city has until Aug. 31 to respond to the petition made by Skakun.
-- With files from Arthur Williams
