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VICTORIA — First Nations rights, climate change targets, the forestry crisis, insurance rates and health concerns over teen vaping are expected to dominate the fall session of B.C.’s legislature, which begins Monday.

But they may all be overshadowed by the abrupt resignation of Citizens’ Services Minister Jinny Sims, who is facing a police probe.

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The appointment of a special prosecutor into Sims’ case comes four months after the Opposition B.C. Liberals sent the RCMP a package of documents from Sims’ fired constituency assistant, Kate Gillie, that alleged Sims used her ministerial credentials to write visa reference letters for up to 10 Pakistani citizens, three of whom may have been on a U.S. security watch list, and that she did so in some cases with the expectations of political donations.

Sims has not been charged with any crime and the nature or extent of the allegations against her remain unknown. But the police investigation is likely to loom large in political cut-and-thrust between the Liberals and NDP during the six-week legislative session.