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Man charged with threatening MLA Kwan and her family

A British Columbia special prosecutor has approved charges against union activist Kim Pollock for alleged offences against Vancouver-Mount Pleasant MLA Jenny Kwan and her family.

The charges include "uttering threats to Ms. Kwan's spouse to cause death or bodily harm to Ms. Kwan, her spouse and their children, and with mischief to property owned by Ms. Kwan and her spouse," according to a criminal justice branch release.

Reports in The Globe and Mail and The Georgia Straight have noted that court documents allege Pollock threw feces on the roof of the Kwan family's home.

On Dec. 1 Kwan publicly criticized Carole James' leadership of the NDP. James resigned five days later, leading to a leadership contest to replace her.

Pollock is a United Steelworkers research representative, an occasional Tyee contributor and the author of the book What Every Worker Needs to Know about Capitalism.

Pollock opened a January 10, 2011 column: "Almost by definition, political parties are screwed up. We’ve seen it in spades here in the past couple of months: the BC Liberals are screwed up; the BC NDP is equally screwed up."

His first appearance in court on the charges is scheduled for Thursday, May 12 in Vancouver.

Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee’s Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria. Reach him here.

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