Burnaby murder trial delayed until July 24

JeremyHainsworth editorial@burnabynow com

The health of the accused has delayed the trial of Ibrahim Ali, who’s on trial for first-degree murder in the death of a girl whose body was found in Central Park on July 19, 2017.

The 33-year-old has pleaded not guilty. The victim cannot be identified because of a publication ban.

Last week, a B.C. Supreme Court judge and jury heard testimony from a cellular phone expert.

During the arrest, Burnaby RCMP Const Jason Cutler told the court he seized Ali’s cellphone.

Two other police witnesses who testified July 12 said police placed the black LG smartphone inside a foil Mylar bag designed to prevent it from being accessed remotely and then locked it in a police locker.

One of the witnesses, Cpl. Andrew Bemister, said he was tasked with extracting a phone number from the SIM card

In her opening statement in April, Crown prosecutor Isobel Keeley said the jury would hear from witnesses who will testify about cellphone records that place Ali in Burnaby on July 18, 2017, the day the girl was reported missing Keeley said witnesses will also testify that the girl’s cellphone records dating back to the end of June 2017 showed no contact between her phone and Ali’s.

Ali’s health delayed the trial last week, but a pause in the proceedings this week had already been scheduled to accommodate vacation requests from jurors.

Last week was not the first time the case has been halted due to Ali’s health It also happened May 13 and April 6.

The case resumes July 24

The next federal election is theoretically still a long way off, but there is already speculation that a potential outcome could set off constitutional alarm bells

That scenario is this: what if the Conservatives win the most seats but fall short of a majority?Would that prompt the JustinTrudeau-led Liberals to try to form government and continue in power?

It is an intriguing outcome and certainly within the realm of possibility. Poll after poll after poll suggests neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives will win anything close to a majority of seats in the House of Commons whenever the next vote is held

The idea of the second-place finisher in an election forming government may strike some folks back East as preposterous, but one needs to look back only recently in history to find a precedent, and it occurred right here in B C

In fact, two events occurred after the 2017 election in B C that may ultimately play a role in determining who gets to rule after the next federal election

First, even though her party failed to win a majority of seats, then-Premier Christy Clark reconvened the legislature as if it was business as usual. Under our system of government, she had every right to do this Despite every indication they were doomed to failure, Clark and the BC Liberals remained on the government side of the legislature chamber, helped choose a Speaker and delivered aThrone Speech that sounded like the recitation of the Green Party’s election platform (her party was desperately trying to win the support of the three Green MLAs to give the Liberals a majority).

Come the next federal election, these developments should bear remembering

No matter what the outcome,Trudeau will still be prime minister until certain events play out. More on that in a bit.

Within days, of course, the Clark-led government fell from power because the Opposition parties voted a non-confidence motion against the government Clark, even then still the premier and thus still First Minister, travelled up the hill to Government House to meet with thenLt.-Gov. Judith Guichon.

According to the book A Matter of Confidence, authors Richard Zussman and Rob Shaw wrote that Clark advised her to call another election, arguing an NDPGreen alliance could not effectively govern. Guichon declined her suggestion and instead turned to John Horgan the leader of the party that finished second to lead the government

Again, we could easily see an outcome of the next federal vote that has the incumbent Liberal government winning the second most seats and the Conservatives winning the most Yet theTrudeau-led Liberals could keep governing if they continued to be backed by the NDP in an arrangement that would produce a working majority in the House of Commons

In such a scenario, it is important to remember thatTrudeau would have never stopped being prime minister and therefore would have the power to recall the House of Commons and put the arrangement to the test.

There is indeed a way for a secondplace finisher to form government

It can be infuriating for the first-place party, of course Just ask the old BC Liberal Party.

Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global BC