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."
More than $50 million will be spent to attract industries to B.C. to run their businesses and reduce their carbon footprint by using hydroelectricity. Bruce Ralston, the province's minister of energy, mines and low carbon innovation, says the plan could lead to lower rates for BC Hydro customer rates, potentially by about 1.6 per cent by 2026.
Rounding out his top five priorities include finalizing a vaccine passport for Canadians travelling abroad, and helping to foot part of the bill for provinces that have moved forward with their own proof-of-vaccination system.
United Steelworkers, which represents workers trapped at Totten Mine near Sudbury, Ont., said it was pleased with the progress of the operation, which has required miners to scale a series of ladders to climb out.
Just 10 per cent of respondents to the Leger survey said they're happy with the outcome, which produced another Liberal minority government led by Justin Trudeau and only minor changes to the seat counts of all the parties.
Sen. Peter Harder, one of the 12 senators who worked on the report, says the group believes the country shouldn't wait until after the pandemic to rethink how to improve Canada's economic performance.
The Liberal members will elect a new leader Feb. 5 to replace former leader Andrew Wilkinson and interim leader Shirley Bond. The debate will be streamed on the Liberal party's website and Facebook page.
