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 fire has moved eastward since then, prompting evacuation orders and alerts by four regional districts, two First Nations and the City of Vernon, while orders or alerts for other communities, including Falkland, Armstrong, Chase and the Spallumcheen township, have since been lifted.
The document, expected to be ready by the fall, will be digital, with an option for those who can't or don't want a digital certificate. Mendicino says it will include data on the type of vaccines received, the dates, and the location.
Since July 1 of this year, there have been eight incidents related to the Granville Entertainment District. The eight incidents range from unwanted touching (groping) to forced sexual intercourse. In July alone, there have been 16 reported stranger sexual assaults throughout Vancouver, compared to 10 in July of 2020 and 7 in July of 2019.
The BC Wildfire Service fire danger map shows risk levels have returned to high or extreme across southern Vancouver Island and most of the central Interior following last weekend's showers.
Garneau in a news conference said the government condemns "in the strongest possible terms" the prison sentence, which followed a closed-door trial in March in which Spavor was found guilty of spying on China.
The $2,000-per-month Canada Emergency Response Benefit amounted to "two entirely different relief programs, distributed by different government agencies and with different eligibility criteria," though seniors were never informed, Falk wrote in an Aug. 9 letter obtained by The Canadian Press.
