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."
Several boards in the Toronto area, like the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board and the York Region District School Board, said classes will go ahead remotely through online learning today. The Durham District School Board cancelled all in-person classes. Secondary students will shift to remote learning, while elementary students will have a snow day.
While the most challenging days of COVID-19 are predicted to be ahead for British Columbia’s health-care system, representatives for doctors and nurses say their members are on the verge of a possible collapse. Doctors of BC president Dr. Ramneek Dosanjh said it has been an overwhelming three years for her members.
That's when restrictions were set to expire, but Dr. Bonnie Henry said last week that they believed COVID-19 hospitalizations were expected to spike after cases within the community had peaked.
There are 35,985 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 257,677 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 819 COVID-positive individuals are in hospital and 99 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
The small meteorite broke through a woman's ceiling in Golden, B.C., in October, landing on her pillow, next to where she had been sleeping moments earlier.
Horgan posted the update on Twitter, saying he is "so grateful" for the compassion and professionalism of the BC Cancer team and health workers across the province who are under incredible strain right now.
