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 host of the party was issued a $2,300 violation ticket for hosting a non-compliant event. The other 16 party attendees were issued a $575 fine each for attending a non-compliant event,” adds Constable Visintin. “Additionally, four speakers, a turntable and various cables were seized as evidence.”
Manitoba has the highest new COVID-19 infection rate in North America currently, with more than 1,200 new cases confirmed over the recent long weekend.
The request marks a significant escalation of American complaints about the way Canada is allocating access to its supply-managed dairy market under NAFTA's successor, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
In a new report today, information commissioner Caroline Maynard is calling for readier transparency as aspiring Canadians frequently have to resort to requests under the Access to Information Act.
From then until early 2021, government agreements show Tesla was reimbursed around $102 million of the roughly $296 million sent to individual dealerships selling electric vehicles from 15 different automakers.
