Before turning to the courts, former municipal employee Carlene Keddie first approached the provincial privacy commissioner with her complaint that the city breached her privacy by releasing confidential information to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.
Keddie said in an interview she filed the complaint in spring 2009 shortly after a tribunal hearing had been held and was advised to take her complaint to the RCMP.
In turn, the RCMP told her they wouldn't investigate because it was not a criminal matter and Keddie's next move was to hire lawyer Jon Duncan, who also represented Skakun, and a charge against City human resources manager Sandra Caffrey under the B.C. Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) was filed with Crown counsel.
Keddie said she believes it was some time after when then privacy commissioner Jason Hodkinson called to confirm the matter won't be pursued.
"At some point, I believe after the judge had accepted the charge against Sandra, the privacy commissioner phoned me and told me the file was closed and sorry, there was nothing they could do and they were just going to go ahead an let the courts do whatever they were going to do," Keddie said.
By that point, Coun. Brian Skakun was facing the same charge from a separate matter - leaking documents about the working environment at the Prince George RCMP to a media outlet.
Duncan said last week that Skakun had also suggested taking his case to the privacy commissioner as a way to save on court time and cost only to have the proposal turned down by Crown counsel.
Privacy commissioner Elizabeth Denham, in turn, said she was "perplexed" by Crown's decision given that the commission is an expert tribunal established to resolve disputes around privacy matters.
However, Denham also noted she's been the commissioner for 10 months and Skakun's case predated her.
Commission spokeswoman Maria Dupuis said the commission cannot confirm or deny that any complaints come through the office.
Skakun became the first politician in B.C. to be prosecuted and convicted under the FIPPA when provincial court judge Ken Ball fined him $750 on May 24. Duncan has since filed an appeal on Skakun's behalf.
Keddie's charge against Caffrey was stayed on May 19, five days before Skakun was found guilty.
Crown counsel Victor Galbraith confirmed the charge was dropped because Caffrey received permission to make the move from her superior, corporate services director Kathleen Soltis.
While there may have been a case against Soltis as a result, Galbraith said he did not pursue that line of inquiry because it had been more than a year since the complaint was lodged, making it statute barred.
As for the complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal, Keddie has said she was "very,very satisfied" with the outcome but cannot disclose details. She had filed a complaint against the Canadian Union of Public Employees alleging the union had discriminated against her because of her family status and gender. Keddie now works for the United Food and Commercial Workers.
