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."
Emergency Management BC says most of the blazes are in the Kamloops, southeast and Prince George fire centres. It says there are about 35 evacuation orders in place as well as 83 evacuation alerts, which means people should be ready to leave at short notice.
Three more people have died, while 159 people are in hospital and 84 of those are in intensive care. There are 5,657 active cases in the province and nearly 39 per cent of those are in the Interior Health region, where tougher restrictions were put in place this month.
Melanie Mark, the minister of tourism, arts, culture and sport, says events will be eligible to claim up to $250,000 with applications open until Oct. 1. The money can go toward operational costs, health and safety measures, venue rental, marketing, wages and promotion.
The BC Prosecution Service has approved charges of sexual assault and sexual interference against Sangris, related to an incident on August 13. VPD is continuing to investigate the possibility of any connections between that incident and other unsolved gropings in the area.
Program spending, excluding net actuarial losses, totalled $39.1 billion in June, down from $51.3 billion a year earlier. Revenue increased to $29.6 billion for the month, up from $19.9 billion in June last year.
Canada's military mission in Afghanistan ended that day, leaving an unknown number of Canadians and their families trapped, as well as vulnerable Afghans who fear Taliban reprisals.
