Sex charges stayed in case of former B.C. Indigenous leader Edward John
![Ed John Grand Chief Ed John, Hereditary Chief of Tl'azt'en First Nation and political executive of the First Nations Summit, responds to the Mt. Polley tailings pond breach report during a news conference in Vancouver on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015. (Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2019/11/14/ed-john-1-4685842-1658877133129.jpg)
The B.C. Prosecution Service says a stay of proceedings has been directed in the sex assault trial of former provincial cabinet minister and Indigenous leader Edward John.
The decision to halt the case in the B.C. Supreme Court in Prince George follows cross-examination of a complainant in allegations that date back to 1974.
Justice Terence Schultes called an early break in proceedings when the woman, now in her 60s, broke down in tears under questioning from John's defence lawyer, Tony Paisana.
Paisana had said there were inconsistencies between statements she provided to authorities about the alleged assaults, which were said to have occurred when John was executive director of the Doh Day De Claa Friendship Centre, where his accuser had a summer job.
The woman replied that the discrepancies were due to the stress she was under and that the memories became clearer as she talked about them.
“I didn't lie on purpose,” she said.
The woman expressed frustration with Paisana's questioning, prompting Schultes to intervene to try to to calm her down.
Nearly an hour into the proceedings on Tuesday morning, she said: “I'm sorry, I need a break.”
Prosecutor Michael Klein met with the woman in an interview room and when Klein returned to the courtroom about an hour later, he told Schultes the case would not proceed against 71-year-old John, who has pleaded not guilty.
The B.C. Prosecution Service said in a statement the charges were stayed because the charge assessment standard, which requires a substantial likelihood of conviction and that charges be in the public interest, was no longer met.
John, a lawyer and hereditary chief of the Tl'azt'en Nation, was appointed to the B.C. cabinet and served as minister for the Children's Ministry in the New Democrat government between November 2000 and June 2001.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6929040.1718564077!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpeg)
16-year-old boy fatally shot outside Scarborough plaza identified
Police have identified a teenage boy who was fatally shot in Scarborough’s L’Amoreaux neighbourhood on Saturday afternoon.
Joe Alwyn says breakup with Taylor Swift was 'a hard thing to navigate'
Joe Alwyn is speaking publicly for the first time about the end of his years-long relationship with Taylor Swift.
Ottawa Food Bank receives largest donation in its 40-year history
210,000 pounds of food was delivered to the Ottawa Food Bank on Saturday, the largest donation in its 40-year history.
Ontario Northland bus fire closes part of Highway 400
Part of Highway 400 was closed on Sunday after an Ontario Northland bus caught on fire.
Your father’s diet before you were born could have affected your health, a new study suggests
Your father's diet before you were born could have played a role in your health, a new study has found.
Prince William shares childhood photo of him and King Charles III for Father's Day
Prince William on Sunday shared a photograph showing him as a child with his father, King Charles III, to mark Father’s Day in the United Kingdom this year.
Singh 'more alarmed' after reading report, but won't break from Liberal-NDP agreement
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he is 'even more alarmed than before' after reading the un-redacted report alleging there are MPs and senators who are participating to some degree in foreign interference efforts.
2 Canadian cities ranked high on global list of most expensive places to buy a home
As Canadians continue to struggle with the extremely high cost of buying a home in some of the country’s major urban centres, a new global report is underscoring just how expensive some of those markets are.
'We're in pretty good shape': Calgary goes low in water consumption after state of local emergency declared
On a day that a local state of emergency was declared in Calgary, city residents answered a request from the mayor and emergency officials to use less water.