Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 01 Mar, 2022 01:30 PM
VANCOUVER - A special prosecutor says British Columbia's former clerk of the legislative assembly used public funds to enrich himself in "glaring and egregious" ways.
Brock Martland made the allegation as he began closing arguments in the Crown's case against Craig James, who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud over $5,000 and three counts of breach of trust.
James's defence is expected to present its case Wednesday.
Martland says that as the most senior officer of the legislature, James held a position akin to the CEO and was responsible for financial stewardship of the institution.
He accused James of acting outside of his duties by picking up a wood splitter and trailer for the legislature and storing them at home for a year, exploiting a weakness in the system to award himself a $258,000 retirement benefit and charging souvenirs to the public purse.
Martland says public trust in government officials is a critical part of a functioning democracy, and he alleged that James violated that trust.
"This case is about trust, specifically the public trust that we place in government officials," Martland told the court on Tuesday.
"Our position is that the public trust was violated repeatedly and extensively by Craig James."
There are 3,015 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 210,828 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 318 individuals are in hospital and 109 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
The findings are among new revelations contained in a lengthy report by the Association of the Families of Flight PS752 Victims that examines the Jan. 8, 2020 shootdown of the commercial airliner by the Iranian military.
The centre that monitors the province's waterways said several atmospheric rivers will drench B.C., dropping up to 70 millimetres of rain over the Fraser Valley, including Abbotsford, by Thursday and even more over Vancouver's North Shore mountains.
The bill introduced Wednesday in the House of Commons is one of four pieces of legislation the government wants MPs to pass before the middle of December ahead of a scheduled winter break.
The report from Kasari Govender's office includes a series of recommendations for the B.C. government as part of a submission to a special committee of the legislature that's looking at changes to the province's Police Act.
Workers in British Columbia will be eligible for a minimum of five paid sick days a year starting in January. The new sick leave policy goes into effect Jan. 1 and affects all workers covered by the province's Employment Standards Act.
