John Ferguson testifies in defamation trial

FormerSaint Johncouncillor John Ferguson will continue his testimony today in a Saint John courtroom.

Ferguson is being sued for defamation by the citys pension board members.

They say he tarnished their reputation with allegations of wrongdoing back in 2005.

Ferguson first took the stand Wednesday afternoon.

He told the jury he first ran into conflict when he was a new councillor.

Ferguson said he consulted the city manager at the time, Terry Totten, and city solicitor, John Nugent about getting outside help with the pension deficit.

He told the court that city councillors were getting "mixed messages" from city staff about the pension problems.

Ferguson also said that he was operating in the dark on many issues regarding the pension problems. He said he didn't realize how big a problem disability pensions were at the time.

The pension fund was facing a $47-million deficit at the time.The deficit is now $193 million.

Ferguson told the court he asked the city staff he wanted to hire experts to help fix the problem, but they said no.Thats when he started to suspect something wasnt right, he said.

CBC reporter Robert Jones will report live from the trial when it resumes this afternoon.