Five years after he was first charged with breach of trust and obstruction of justice, the former head of Ottawa’s police union is facing a new charge as his long-delayed criminal proceedings wind their way slowly through the courts.
Matt Skof was initially charged by the Ontario Provincial Police in 2019 with two criminal charges related to leaked audio recordings that allegedly captured conversations between Skof and a member of the public.
Last week, a third charge was added to Skof’s court file alleging he disclosed personal information and contravened the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
The new charge was laid Jan. 11, according to Skof’s court record, and the alleged offence dates back almost seven years to July, 2017.
Skof, who is represented in the criminal matter by veteran Ottawa defence lawyers Connie D’Angelo and Michael Edelson, is due to return to the Ottawa courthouse for a hearing on Feb. 23.
D’Angelo and Edelson declined to comment on the case or the new charge, and the allegations against Skof have not been tested in court.
Skof was first charged with breach of trust and obstruction in January 2019 following a six-month OPP investigation into the leaked audio tapes, which surfaced on social media in the summer of 2018.
The recorded phone conversations are edited to contain only one of two voices, where a man alleged to be Skof is heard discussing a police investigation, which, the man claims, is a covert undercover police operation.
The man on the recorded phone call also makes unproven allegations against former councillor Eli El-Chantiry, who formerly served as the chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board.
El-Chantiry and his lawyer have long maintained the allegations against the councillor are “unfounded.”
At the time, Skof said he had “concerns about the accuracy of the context and content” of the edited recordings.
The OPP launched its investigation following a chief’s complaint in July 2018 from then-Ottawa police chief Charles Bordeleau.
Skof became president of the Ottawa Police Association in 2011 and was supported by the rank-and-file union as he stayed on as president after the criminal charges were laid. Skof resigned as the union’s president and retired as a police officer in April, 2022.
ahelmer@postmedia.com
-with Postmedia files
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