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."
A party statement says it is looking for a new convention date and business not required to happen this weekend under the NDP constitution is postponed.
Henry Braun, the mayor of Abbotsford, said Canadian Forces troops are expected to join contractors to help build the temporary 2.5-kilometre dike to keep out water from the overflowing Sumas River.
The male, who was suffering from life-threatening injuries, was transported to the Royal Columbian Hospital where lifesaving interventions continued; however, he did not survive. IHIT has assumed conduct of this investigation and will be working in partnership with the New Westminster Police Major Crime Unit to gather evidence and determine motive.
The survey suggests at least 1,016,669 doses have been rejected since vaccines first arrived last December. That's about 2.6 per cent of the entire supply delivered to the provinces and territories that provided their numbers.
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