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Statements of claim contain allegations that have not been tested in court.

In a July 16 interview with The StarPhoenix, Petersen acknowledged posting the comments listed in Starkell’s lawsuit, but said two examples quoted in the statement of claim left out much of what was in the post.

“I said everything I said. I believe it with all my heart. I’d say it again and again and again,” Petersen said. “I believe it to be the absolute truth. I believe the truth needs to come out.”

Petersen said he started defending Starkell at one point in a comment thread, and when he looks back at it now, he’s embarrassed to have done that.

“I needed to set the record straight and defend him properly,” he said.

Petersen, a former Town of Nipawin employee, has not deleted any of his comments. Starkell’s lawyers sent him a letter before the libel suit was filed, asking him to back off and delete the comments, he said.

“I guess that would have been a warning, right?”

He ignored the request, paying it little attention. After the statement of claim was filed, he hired a lawyer of his own.

The conflict began after the fire department’s 2009 Dodge Ram 1500’s engine failed while Starkell was driving on July 7, 2016 during a work-related trip to Regina. Starkell’s statement of claim says he had the truck’s condition assessed “through discussion with third parties” and the information was provided to the town’s administration.

The town decided the truck would be sold for salvage. At an Aug. 8, 2016 meeting, the town council approved the purchase of a 2017 half-ton using reserve funds.