The trial starts this morning for Prince George City Councillor Brian Skakun, who is accused of breaching the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Skakun is accused of leaking a confidential report about the relationship between a former Officer in Charge of the local RCMP detachment and civilian staff members. The report ended up in the hands of the CBC and was posted for a time on the CBC website.
With as many as 24 witnesses expected to testify, the trial is expected to last two weeks, with the Crown presenting its case today through Friday. The trial will then resume on December 7th for another week of testimony.
Read more on Opinion250. From what they say, even if Skakun is found guilty, the maximum fine he would face is $2,000.00 and there would be no criminal record. Interesting to see the Crown investing a lot of time/money on a civil privacy breach case like this where there is no splashy huge fine or long prison sentence.