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 as a representative of the Liberal Party in the 2015 federal election.[2]

Marwan Tabbara MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Kitchener South—Hespeler
Incumbent
Assumed office October 19, 2015
Preceded by	District Created
Personal details
Born	(1984-08-23) August 23, 1984[1] Beirut, Lebanon
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	Independent (2020-present), Liberal (2015-2020)
Residence	Kitchener, Ontario
Alma mater	University of Guelph

Tabbara is currently facing assault, break and enter, and harassment charges. He left from the Liberal Party Caucus to sit as an Independent as a result of these charges.

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, allegedly nobody was informed about it, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, apparently 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 allegedly 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
	Liberal	Marwan Tabbara	20,986	40.2
	Conservative	Alan Keeso	17,480	33.5
	New Democratic	Wasai Rahimi	6,945	13.3
	Green	David Weber	5,671	10.9
	People's	Joseph Todd	1,005	1.9
	Veterans Coalition	Matthew Correia	90	0.2
	Marxist–Leninist	Elaine Baetz	56	0.1
Total valid votes/Expense limit			52,233	100.0
Total rejected ballots			395
Turnout			52,628	66.0
Eligible voters			79,757
Source: Elections Canada[11][12]

2015 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Marwan Tabbara	20,215	42.3	+23.38	$68,757.73
	Conservative	Marian Gagné	17,544	36.7	-14.49	$96,904.47
	New Democratic	Lorne Bruce	7,440	15.6	-10.16	–
	Green	David Weber	1,767	3.7	-0.3	$2,785.51
	Libertarian	Nathan Lajeunesse	772	1.6	–	$2,129.83
	Marxist–Leninist	Elaine Baetz	91	0.2	–	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			47,829	100.0		$205,534.07
Total rejected ballots			259	0.5	–
Turnout			48,088	66.4	–
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.

External links

• Marwan Tabbara – Parliament of Canada biography