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 Vancouver-based company says the sale of its rights to manage the forest and harvest timber to the McLeod Lake Indian Band and Tsay Keh Dene Nation is subject to approval from the provincial government.
Last month, police issued a Canada-wide warrant for the arrest of Michael Gordon Jackson and charged him with abduction in contravention of a custody or parenting order.
There are 612 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 and 102 are in intensive care. In the past 24 hours, nine new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,840.
British Columbia's environment minister says the province can't afford to wait any longer to confront climate change after last year's devastating fires, floods, slides and heat waves. George Heyman says last year delivered the message that the time to address climate change is now.
Demonstrations have been planned in Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver today to denounce the Russian military strike against Ukraine, and the Canada-Ukraine Foundation has launched a fundraiser for humanitarian aid.
The new sanctions will target 58 people and entities connected to Russia, including members of that country's elite and their families, the paramilitary organization known as the Wagner Group and major Russian banks.
