Skakun Granted Leave to Appeal
Thursday, March 7, 2013 @ 2:03 PM
Prince George, B.C.- Councillor Brian Skakun has been granted leave to appeal his conviction of breaching the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA).
In her decision, Madame Justice Neilson notes the precedent setting nature of this case “I am persuaded the determination of this issue may have some broader importance as well, as it will be the first time this Court will address the role of a municipal councillor in the context of the FOIPPA, and the result of an appeal may assist in defining the scope of that legislation as it pertains to municipal officers.”
Skakun was ordered to pay a fine for releasing a confidential report to the CBC. He appealed the initial ruling saying he was not an “Officer” of a public body, and therefore did not fall under the parameters set by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. That appeal resulted in the Justice upholding the initial conviction.
The matter will now be heard by the B.C. Court of Appeal, although no date has been set for that hearing.
"Im happy to hear it will be resolved one way or the other" says Skakun. He is hoping it will be heard within the next six months to a year.
Comments
Clearly, Council let him off too easy. Since he won’t let it rest, I think and would support Council going after him for damages. I can only imagine how much this has cost the taxpayer of this City and the taxpayers of this province. This is what happens when you let loose cannons run amuck.
The following is an excerpt from the Community Charter:
Duty to respect confidentiality
117 (1) A council member or former council member must, unless specifically authorized otherwise by council,
(a) keep in confidence any record held in confidence by the municipality, until the record is released to the public as lawfully authorized or required, and
(b) keep in confidence information considered in any part of a council meeting or council committee meeting that was lawfully closed to the public, until the council or committee discusses the information at a meeting that is open to the public or releases the information to the public.
(2) If the municipality suffers loss or damage because a person contravenes subsection (1) and the contravention was not inadvertent, the municipality may recover damages from the person for the loss or damage.
So he releases confidential information to the CBC and wants to get off on a technicality. How many appeals has he lost now?
No kidding eh.
Well it’s not over until it’s over and I for one would like to see the law to have a beter look at what appears to a miscarriage of justice. Mr.Duncan is Brian’s lawyer and i would like to thank him in advance for helping in his efforts of getting Mr. Skakun cleared of any wrong doing in this case.
Brian for Mayor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The only miscarriage of justice is the amount of court time and money he’s wasted persuing this nonsense.
Lets not forget why he determined that justice was not being served. He tried using the method that was laid out. When that could not work, he cowboyed up and did what he need to do. Using the law to coverup wrongdoing is so wrong on all levels. Brian has my full support and admiration. He has chosen to look at the meat of the matter rather than just the candy coating the public gets to see. I am disgusted that this council chose to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars to condone a wrong. Not many people will risk everything to do what is right. Good for you, Brian. Be the rebel.
Again???? someone really misses the spotlight. That’s great Brian, keep wasting the courts time.
If you felt you were innocent wouldn’t you fight back? He seems to be the only one on council that cares about exposing the truth.
We deserve to know what Council is doing in our name. Skakun for mayor…or Premier…or Prime Minister.
So let me get this straight. We had a top cop, he didn’t like the city liaison person and harrassed him into resigning. Then we see a person near and dear to the top cop occupying the liaison position. There is an investigation and there must have been some kind of damning information in the report concerning this whole process. Brian took the whistleblower route – Dan the man didn’t like it nor did many others on Council. They charged Brian. Queen Shari decided she should continue this charade and eventually led the way for Brian to APOLOGIZE! Give me a break! Apologize for what??? If he did not bring this matter to the forefront, how would we have known about it? These people are there on our ticket! Necessary perhaps.
The only mistake Brian made IMO, was that he named the persons involved!
So, who does not made a mistake now and then? Perhaps there are a lot of glass houses out there. I know I am not in one.
This is my message: IF you are wronged, fight back – too many will just let it slide and then our ‘great leaders’ will continue to waltz us to their tunes that are usually off key.
Go Brian, I am with you all the way!!!
Every man has the right to defend his actions and name if he feels he has been wronged.
That is why we have courts and a legal system that allows for such actions.
You got it nuffsnuff.
Cheers
Skakun for Mayor
Right on nuffsnuff…..Brian did the right thing and then had to apologize for it…Brian was wronged and he was the one that deserved an apology!!! No one else on council is standing up for the citizens of Prince George. Seems to me there is a whole council that needs to apologize to the Haldi community that was wronged but do you think that will ever happen? I don’t think so. Council (except for Brian Skakun) will just keep on waltzing over the citizens until they are turfed out, hopefully at the next election, and then finally Prince George will have a chance to get back on the right track again. In the meantime, we will continue to have the distinction of being the crime capital of Canada and at this rate the Bullying Capital of Canada.
Breaching the FOIPPA isn’t ‘the right thing’, which is why he’s lost so many appeals.
You nailed it nuffsnuff!
Folks do not know the whole story and council, the city top dogs and the RCMP wanted it all quiet and kept under wraps till someone finally had the balls to question the whole sordid mess and cast the light of day on what the hell was going on – on our dime, I might add – and as one of the ultimate Employers here I say thank you Brian for taking the leap for our collective employees in this big bully top cop and his squeeze BS.
Laws are made to be challenged people! It is unfortunate reality that certain people and interest groups get ahold of the laws to shape them, not for societal peace and standards for all, but too often to hide behind (as it is in this case, IMO) or for the benefit of a few above the good of the many.
Know How to think as opposed to What to think. This is especially true where money, prestige and power are concerned. Yes, even here in Canada. IMO, now more than ever before.
Believe it or not, the FOIPPA is for everyone’s benefit.
You don’t get to decide when the rules apply and when they do not.
FOIPPA is just a document which protects the ones who write the rules. A great case for “We have the law but we don’t have justice.” Brian shed light on what every citizen has a right to know and is getting shafted by the rules.
But yes, we have a set of rules. The fact that the parties in question were in the wrong gets forgotten. But the fact that Brian brought it to light is not forgotten.
“Oh of course, the parties should not have done that, BUT you shouldn’t have told the public. Bad Bad!!”
Where did people’s honor get to in this new age? Brian did the honorable thing and told us of the situation, even tho it may have breached a “set of rules”.
This whole thing smacked of bullying a councilor for standing up for what was morally right. Bullying is alive and well in Prince George as seen from our “city fathers”.
That’s an interesting perspective, retro. Too bad it’s completely bass ackwards.
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