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."
Meng was arrested at Vancouver's airport in 2018 at the request of the United States, where she is wanted on fraud charges that both she and Huawei deny.
It’s believed dozens of young people had been partying in an outdoor area when a confrontation occurred between several people, possibly involving pepper spray and the use of racial slurs, before the stabbing happened.
Gurdeep Singh Mangat, 46, from the Punjabi-dominated city of Brampton in Toronto suburbs was arrested when he drove his commercial truck into Canada at the Blue Water Bridge entry point from the US.
The average annual cost of claims for property damage or losses due to severe weather has more than quadrupled over the last decade to about $2 billion, said Craig Stewart, the bureau's vice-president of federal affairs.
The victim, a 46-year-old man from Vancouver, was near Quebec Street and East 10th Avenue around 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon when someone approached from behind and cut his throat, then walked away.
Police believe the suspect was walking near Broadway and Commercial Drive around 8 a.m. Sunday when he allegedly approached a 35-year-old man outside a fast-food restaurant and sexually assaulted him by groping him from behind. A number of people saw the incident and called 9-1-1, but the suspect fled before police arrived.
