Marwan Tabbara

Marwan Rached Tabbara MP (born August 23, 1984) is a Canadian politician who currently represents the riding of Kitchener South—Hespeler in the House of Commons of Canada. He was first elected in the 2015 federal election as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada[2] and re-elected in 2019.

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
Other political
affiliations		Liberal (2015–2020)
ResidenceKitchener, Ontario
Alma materUniversity of Guelph

Tabbara left the Liberal parliamentary caucus to sit as an independent MP following a 2020 arrest on charges of assault, breaking and entering, and harassment.[3]

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.[4]

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.[4]

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.[5] Tabbara's statement was challenged by Conservative candidate Marian Gagne to which he replied "So is bombing Syrian children OK?"[5] Tabbara apologized for the comments.[5]

Sexual harassment allegations

Allegations of misconduct made against Tabbara included inappropriate touching and unwelcome sexual comments directed at a female staffer during the 2015 election campaign, for which the Liberal Party was criticized for allowing him to run in the 2019 election despite these allegations.[6]

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.[7] On June 5, 2020 it was reported that he is "stepping back from the Liberal caucus" but not resigning as an MP.[8] 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.[9][3] On August 28, 2020 it was reported that the trial was pushed back until the end of September.[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. "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.
  4. Vivian, Richard. "Liberals choose Marwan Tabbara as Kitchener South-Hespeler candidate". Cambridge Times. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  5. "Liberal candidate apologizes for statements on Middle East during debate | CTV News Kitchener". kitchener.ctvnews.ca. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  6. Burke, Ashley (Jun 19, 2020). "Liberals allowed MP Marwan Tabbara to run in 2019 despite sexual harassment investigation". CBC News.
  7. "Liberal MP Marwan Tabbara charged with assault, harassment and break and enter". CBC News. June 5, 2020.
  8. News (2020-06-05). "Ontario MP Marwan Tabbara 'stepping back' from Liberal causcus after assault, criminal harassment charges | National Post". Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  9. 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.
  10. "MP Marwan Tabbara's assault trial pushed to September". Global News. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  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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