Prince George, B.C. – There are only two possible witnesses left to call in the court case against City Councillor Brian Skakun.

Sherry McLean- Smith has taken  the stand first this morning. She was one of the employees who leveled complaints against two City employees and the former officer in charge of the local RCMP detachment. The complaints were investigated by Kitty Heller, and she determined the allegations to be unfounded.

 

It was her , confidential report which found its way into the hands of the CBC and on to the CBC website.

 

McLean-Smith says  she first viewed the report in mid February, in an office at City Hall. She said when she finished reading the report, she left the report on the front desk, “There was nobody around, no one.”   Which paints the picture of a confidential document being left in the open, possibly accessible to anyone who walked by.  

 

When McLean Smith was shown a copy of the report which was labeled “attachment 4”, she  testified this was not the document she had been shown.

 

The document which appeared on the CBC website was the one labeled “attachment 4” which indicated it had been part of a package given to members of Council who attended  a special closed meeting. Skakun is accused of leaking the document.

 

She told the court how she had sent a letter to Council expressing her frustration over the lack of action on her allegations. She said she received a response from Councillor Brian Skakun who agreed to meet with her. She shared with Brian Skakun about incidents she said had  happened at the detachment.    She said she hoped “Skakun could do something, that he could help”. She testified that while Skakun was empathetic, he said he  wasn’t sure   what he could do. She also testified that the City offered her $25 thousand dollars  on the condition that she not speak of anything she had seen. Her job was terminated in June of 2008.

 

McLean-Smith said the release of the Heller report didn’t bother her.

 

The only other person who may take the stand, is Councillor Skakun himself.   His lawyer, Jon Duncan says that decision has not yet been made. Either way, Duncan says this case will be complete by no later than tomorrow morning.