Top prosecutor in Kamloops Crown counsel office fired

Photo: Castanet

The top prosecutor in the Kamloops Crown counsel office is out of a job.

Deputy regional Crown counsel Neil Wiberg was fired on March 15, Castanet Kamloops has learned.

BC Prosecution Service spokesman Dan McLaughlin refused to answer questions about Wiberg's departure, saying only that he is no longer a government employee.

“We can confirm that Mr. Wiberg is no longer employed by the B.C. government, “ McLaughlin said.

“But personnel matters are confidential so the BCPS will have no further comment.”

Wiberg was a longtime Crown prosecutor in Edmonton before moving to Kamloops in 2018. He has handled a number of high-profile local cases, most recently the prosecution of eight protesters convicted of criminal contempt for violating an injunction at two Trans-Mountain work sites.

McLaughlin said he could not comment when asked about plans to name a new deputy regional Crown counsel for the Kamloops office.

Wiberg was one of three deputy regional Crown counsels in the Interior region — one in Kamloops, one in Kelowna and one in the Kootenays.

There are 16 prosecutors working in the Kamloops Crown counsel office, as well as about a dozen non-lawyer staffers.

The office, located in the Kamloops Law Courts, prosecutes criminal cases in Kamloops as well as rural areas stretching from the North Thompson to Merritt and from Chase to Lillooet.