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."
A shooting in Surrey, near 76 Ave and 128 St at close to 9:30pm on Saturday. There was a heavy police presence due to the incident at the intersection of 128th and 76th avenue.
RCMP say two men have been charged in the double murder of two brothers in British Columbia's Okanagan region. The bodies of Erick and Carlos Fryer were found in a remote location near the town of Naramata.
The federal government says it wants to ban most flavoured vaping products in a bid to reduce their appeal to youth. Health Canada put forward draft regulations Friday that would restrict all e-cigarette flavours except tobacco, mint and menthol.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases attributed to the highly contagious Delta variant jumped 66 per cent in Canada this week. Canada's chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said as of Friday there are just over 2,000 confirmed cases of the variant.
The City of Surrey has been ranked by the Financial Times’ fDi Intelligence division among the Top 10 Mid-Sized Americas Cities of the Future. Surrey ranked eighth and marks the second time Surrey has ranked in the Top 10, rising two spots from 2019/20.
