It's judgment day for Brian Skakun.
The city council member will learn today if he is guilty of violating provincial privacy legislation by leaking documents to a local media outlet about the working environment at the Prince George RCMP detachment.
One of those documents, a report by labour lawyer Kitty Heller into the conduct of Ann Bailey, the top civilian manager at the detachment, was posted for a brief period Aug. 19, 2008 on the CBC website, sparking an investigation that led to a charge of unauthorized disclosure of personal information brought against Skakun roughly a year later.
Judge Ken Ball will render his decision at the Prince George courthouse, wrapping up a trial that began Oct. 26 last year and consumed 12 days of court time during which more than a dozen witnesses testified.
Skakun, who faces a fine of up to $2,000, was the last to testify and when he did, admitted to handing the report and letters of complaint from three disgruntled employees - Sheri McLean-Smith, Linda Thompson and Ken Corrigan - to the CBC radio station in Prince George.
Defence lawyer Jon Duncan maintains his client was within his rights to do so, arguing Skakun's action was precipitated by an "overriding public interest" and should be given the same protection afforded to other types of "whistle blowers."
Heller found no wrongdoing with Bailey's conduct but did find she was in a conflict of interest due to her romance with Prince George RCMP Supt. Dahl Chambers, a point with which City administration disagreed, calling the conflict "perceived" and the issue beyond Heller's mandate.
Bailey and Chambers have since left Prince George and are living in the Lower Mainland.
Following a separate investigation by the RCMP, Chambers was ordered the same month Skakun leaked the report to apologize for his treatment of McLean-Smith, Thompson and Ken Corrigan, the former civilian manager at the detachment. When Corrigan took volunteer retirement in September 2007 after eight years at the detachment, his duties were split between Bailey and another civilian manager.
"Despite the concerns raised in RCMP investigations and the report itself, the whole controversy was being covered up by the administration," Duncan argues in a 20-page closing submission and adds the evidence suggests Skakun exposed "a cover-up orchestrated by city officials in order to protect favoured employees at the expense of real victims."
But Crown counsel Judith Doulis argues the whistleblower defence does not apply to Skakun because it's meant for employees who disclose illegal or corrupt activities and face a loss of their jobs as a result.
And even if the defence could be extended to a councillor, Doulis contends Skakun would still not be entitled to its protection because the report revealed no evidence that the City's administration or elected officials engaged in illegal acts or jeopardized anyone's life, health or safety.
Even if Skakun had an "honest belief" there was wrongdoing, it's not enough to trigger the defence, Doulis continues.
"There had to be some rational basis for the allegations," Doulis writes in her 65-page closing argument. "Mr. Skakun's quixotic quest to champion the cause of the RCMP complainants does not justify the acts for which he was charged.
"He has to show there was an objective basis for his belief the city, in failing to act on Kitty Heller's findings, was guilty of some illegal act or someone's life, health or safety was seriously at risk."
Duncan also provides a second argument in Skakun's defence - that Crown counsel took too long to lay charges. Duncan maintains the disclosure to CBC occurred on or before Aug. 12, 2008 and charges were not pressed until Aug. 14, 2009, more than a year later.
Doulis's response is that the evidence shows Skakun gave the report and some other documents to CBC's Prince George radio station on Aug. 18, 2008, the day before the Heller report was posted.
