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."
The civil suit filed in B.C. Supreme Court says members of the class-action had convictions, charges or police interactions related to sex work before the Supreme Court of Canada struck down key prostitution laws in 2013.
Police earlier this week charged 13 people from the Coutts protest with possession of weapons and mischief to property, including four who face counts of conspiracy to murder RCMP officers.
The border crossings in Windsor, Ont., Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia have since been cleared using traditional police enforcement measures, while Ottawa remains clogged with protesters who drove in trucks nearly three weeks ago and have refused to leave.
In a debate in the House of Commons about a bill to regulate online streaming, Rodriguez says updating the broadcasting law is long overdue and needs to cover commercial content on social media and streaming platforms.
Isobel Mackenzie says nearly 26,000 seniors benefited from the generosity of over 13,000 volunteers as part of a provincially funded program that was expanded in March 2020 to boost services through community organizations.
Donald Farquhar told a B.C. Supreme Court trial for James that it was his legal opinion that all so-called table officers, who support the work of the clerk in the legislature, were eligible in 2011 for the retirement allowance, which has since been eliminated.
