Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 26/98) - A three-year-old legal opinion that one alderman says is "damaging" to the mayor and two veteran councillors is being withheld.

The document, which reportedly warns council about the dangerous legal basis of secret meetings, was supplied to aldermen on Tuesday. Yellowknifer was denied access to the opinion, but it may made public at Monday's council meeting.

Ald. David Ramsay earlier this week said the opinion calls into question Mayor Dave Lovell's claim that neither he nor the previous council knew secret meetings were illegal three years before last month's NWT Supreme Court ruling

The four-page letter "says exactly what I thought it would say," Ramsay said Wednesday. After reading this, they knew they were on shaky ground at best."

Aldermen were provided with copies of the opinion, given by the law firm of Johnson Gullberg Weist in April 1995, but have been told not to release it to the public.

Ald. Cheryl Best said the document could be damaging to the previous council.

"I've been trying to get it released, but administration and the mayor have been blocking it," said Best.

Council is expected to discuss releasing the document at its committee of the whole meeting Monday. Best said she believes council will support the release of the document at that time.

Ramsay noted the previous council's decision to fight the Yellowknife Property Owners Association's court challenge of the secret meetings has cost the city $100,000.

That challenge climaxed May 27, when Supreme Court Justice Howard Irving ruled the meetings were illegal.

Lovell said the document is not being released because it is city policy not to release legal opinions.

"That's been very standard," said Lovell. "No one's made a decision. It's just never been done."

Lovell agreed the opinion said the meetings were "on shaky ground," but said it also indicated a court challenge "could go either way."

The opinion cites the same Ontario precedents that were used in court last month.

The document also advises council that if it continued holding secret meetings, they should not debate issues or make decisions.

Council of the day did not heed the advice. Records of the weekly closed meetings, entered as evidence during the court case, indicate that at least one vote was taken during the meetings and numerous decisions were made.

Ramsay said he was told the opinion could not be released because it could affect negotiation of costs awarded to the Property Owners Association.

But the lawyer who won that case said that explanation makes no sense.

"What effect it could have on any negotiation or adjudication is beyond me," said Steven Cooper. "The judge has ordered column 5 costs. The only issue is what is included in that."

The column 5 reference works out to about 60 per cent of the association's

legal bills.

Lovell and Ald. Blake Lyons were the only members of the previous council to be re-elected.