Marwan Tabbara

Marwan Rached Tabbara MP (born August 23, 1984) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to represent the riding of Kitchener South—Hespeler in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election.[2]

Marwan Tabbara

MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Kitchener South—Hespeler
Assumed office
October 19, 2015
Preceded byDistrict Created
Personal details
Born (1984-08-23) August 23, 1984[1]
Beirut, Lebanon
NationalityCanadian
Political partyIndependent (2020-present),
Liberal (2015-2020)
ResidenceKitchener, Ontario
Alma materUniversity of Guelph

Early life

Marwan Tabbara was born in Beirut, Lebanon on August 23, 1984. Four years later, his family immigrated to Canada to flee the ongoing Lebanese Civil War.[3]

Early career

After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Government from the University of Guelph, Tabbara took several construction jobs in the summer before working at the Frito Lay plant in Cambridge, where he worked as a line technician. He also worked as a field supervisor for a management company doing quality control work within the automotive industry.[3]

Member of Parliament

2015 comments on the Middle East

For the 2015 federal election, during a Kitchener South—Hespeler debate, Tabbara mentioned that Jean Chrétien refused to send troops into Afghanistan when he was prime minister even though Canada began sending troops to Afghanistan in 2001 during Chretien's tenure.[4] Tabbara's statement was challenged by Conservative candidate Marian Gagne to which he replied "So is bombing Syrian children OK?"[4] Tabbara apologized for the comments.[4]

Criminal charges

On April 9, 2020, Tabbara was arrested by police in Guelph, Ontario on charges that included two counts of assault, one count of "break and enter and commit an indictable offence" and one count of criminal harassment.[5] On June 5, 2020 it was reported that he is "stepping back from the Liberal caucus" but not resigning as an MP.[6] Tabbara was jailed and bailed on Easter Friday 2020 but nobody was informed about it, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, until June because the police and judicial systems failed to release the information to the public. His bail hearing was done remotely by a Justice of the Peace 120km away from the jailhouse he occupied. Tabbara, who successfully hid the matter from his caucus until 5 June, now sits as an independent MP.[7][8]

Tabbara is scheduled to make a court appearance on June 19, 2020 in relation to the charges.[9]

Sexual Harassment Allegations

The Liberals looked into detailed allegations of misconduct made against the Kitchener South-Hespeler MP that included inappropriate touching and unwelcome sexual comments directed at a female staffer during the 2015 election campaign.[10]

Electoral record
2019 Canadian federal election: Kitchener South—Hespeler
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalMarwan Tabbara20,98640.2
ConservativeAlan Keeso17,48033.5
New DemocraticWasai Rahimi6,94513.3
GreenDavid Weber5,67110.9
People'sJoseph Todd1,0051.9
Veterans CoalitionMatthew Correia900.2
Marxist–LeninistElaine Baetz560.1
Total valid votes/Expense limit 52,233100.0
Total rejected ballots 395
Turnout 52,62866.0
Eligible voters 79,757
Source: Elections Canada[11][12]
2015 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalMarwan Tabbara20,21542.3+23.38$68,757.73
ConservativeMarian Gagné17,54436.7-14.49$96,904.47
New DemocraticLorne Bruce7,44015.6-10.16–
GreenDavid Weber1,7673.7-0.3$2,785.51
LibertarianNathan Lajeunesse7721.6–$2,129.83
Marxist–LeninistElaine Baetz910.2––
Total valid votes/Expense limit 47,829100.0  $205,534.07
Total rejected ballots 2590.5–
Turnout 48,08866.4–
Eligible voters 72,359
Liberal notional gain from Conservative Swing +18.93%
Source: Elections Canada[13][14]

References
  1. "Liberals win region's newest riding, Kitchener South-Hespeler". therecord.com. October 20, 2015.
  2. "Kitchener South-Hespeler: Liberal Marwan Tabbara elected". CBC News. Oct 19, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  3. Vivian, Richard. "Liberals choose Marwan Tabbara as Kitchener South-Hespeler candidate". Cambridge Times. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  4. "Liberal candidate apologizes for statements on Middle East during debate | CTV News Kitchener". kitchener.ctvnews.ca. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  5. "Liberal MP Marwan Tabbara charged with assault, harassment and break and enter". CBC News. June 5, 2020.
  6. News (2020-06-05). "Ontario MP Marwan Tabbara 'stepping back' from Liberal causcus after assault, criminal harassment charges | National Post". Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  7. Humphreys, Adrian (8 June 2020). "Ontario MP allegedly watched home for three months before arrest there for assault, break and enter, harassment". National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
  8. "As Ontario MP Marwan Tabbara sat in jail over Easter, there was no backlash because nobody knew". National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. 15 June 2020.
  9. Carty, Matt (June 5, 2020). "Liberal MP Marwan Tabbara faces multiple charges after April arrest in Guelph, Ont". Global News.
  10. Burke, Ashley (Jun 19, 2020). "Liberals allowed MP Marwan Tabbara to run in 2019 despite sexual harassment investigation". CBC News.
  11. "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  12. "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  13. Canada, Elections. "Voter Information Service - Find your electoral district". www.elections.ca.
  14. Canada, Elections. "Error page". www.elections.ca. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
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