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 Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre confirmed Monday that the helicopter crashed at around 2 p.m. in the area near Killam Bay, at the entrance to Jervis Inlet, northeast of Sechelt.
There are 5,986 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 181,304 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 326 individuals are in hospital and 142 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
Just over 9,000 condos, townhomes and single-detached homes were listed for sale in September and statistics from the board show 34 per cent of those changed hands.
Kevin Willard, 37, is now charged with one count of break and enter in relation to Sunday’s incident, while VPD investigates potential links with the other two break and enters.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, says PHAC has presented data on the effectiveness of mixed doses to the U.S. and other top-priority destinations.
The Board processed a total of 1,866 property sales on its Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in September, a decrease of 10.6 per cent compared to August and a 16.4 per cent decrease compared to the same month last year.
