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 Ministry of Transportation says in a written statement that beginning next Monday, anyone applying for a B.C. Class 1 driver's licence must successfully complete the training program before attempting a road test.
NDP national director Anne McGrath has written to Canada's elections commissioner, Yves Côté, calling for an investigation into whether election officials in a number of ridings failed to follow correct procedures, denying citizens the right to cast their vote on Sept. 20.
Public health and vaccine experts in Canada are leery of recommending booster shots for most Canadians because the vaccines thus far are showing to maintain strong protection against severe disease even if protection against infection at all is dropping.
Reports of his activities on that day sparked widespread backlash from Indigenous leaders, who felt it was disrespectful of him not to join other politicians in attending events held to honour the children who never came home.
The federal government announced Wednesday public servants must attest they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 29, or be put on unpaid administrative leave.
Recent data posted by the province's Centre for Disease Control says there were 368 COVID-19 outbreaks at B.C. care facilities from January 2020 to September 2021 and 1,092 deaths of residents.
