Marwan Rached Tabbara (born August 23, 1984) is a former Canadian politician who represented the
riding of
Kitchener South—Hespeler in the
House of Commons of Canada
The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...
from 2015 to 2021. He was first elected in the
2015 federal election as a member of the
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...
and re-elected in
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
. Tabbara resigned from the Liberal caucus in 2020 after he was criminally charged with two counts of assault & one count of being unlawfully in a dwelling house. Tabbara pleaded guilty for his crimes & was convicted, though he sat as an independent member for the remainder of the
43rd Canadian Parliament
The 43rd Canadian Parliament was in session from December 5, 2019, to August 15, 2021, with the membership of its Lower House, the House of Commons of Canada, having been determined by the results of the 2019 federal election held on October 21 ...
preceding his conviction. He did not seek re-election in the
2021 Canada federal election.
Early life
Marwan Tabbara was born in
Beirut, Lebanon
Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
on August 23, 1984. Four years later, his family migrated to Canada to flee the ongoing
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon.
The religious diversity of the ...
.
After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and government from the
University of Guelph
The University of Guelph (abbreviated U of G) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College (1874), the MacDonald I ...
, Tabbara took several construction jobs in the summer before working at the
Frito Lay
Frito-Lay, Inc. (; ) is an American food company that manufactures, markets, and sells snack foods. It began in the early 1930s as two companies, the Frito Company and H.W. Lay & Company, that merged in 1961. Frito-Lay itself merged with the ...
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.
Member of Parliament
Tabbara has advocated for the economic development of his constituency and played a role in securing federal funding for a number of projects, including:
* $96 million for Highway 401 expansion
* $110 million to Toyota, creating 450 new jobs
* $7 million to Conestoga College expansion
Citizenship and immigration
Throughout his tenure as Member of Parliament, Tabbara has been a member of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, and chair of International Human Rights.
In his position on the Committee of Citizenship and Immigration, he has helped in adopting several recommendations and legislations concerning the Global Skills Strategy, Family Reunification and reducing wait times. The Global Skills Strategy aims to ease the process for skilled workers to immigrate to Canada. Tabbara has also advocated for increased economic skilled migrants in the construction and trades industry.
International Human Rights Committee
While serving as a member of International Human Rights Committee, Tabbara has advocated on issues of human rights abuses, with a focus on
South Sudan
South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...
,
Somalia
Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...
,
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
and
Latin America
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
. Studies he brought forward in 2017 regarding Somalia and South Sudan raised awareness of the dire need for the provision of emergency food and nutrition assistance by the Canadian Government to over 4 million people at a high risk of food insecurity. His advocacy on the committee has also helped raise awareness to much needed life-saving aid. A study put forward by Tabbara focused on the October 14, 2017, truck bombing in
Mogadishu
Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...
, Somalia that took the lives of 587 innocent victims and injured another 316 people. The Human Rights committee heard from an expert panel of academics on the deep tribal divides, political and economic instability and Human Rights abuses that still reside today.
Parliamentary Associations and Interparliamentary Groups
Tabbara has served as a member of:
* Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association
* Canada-China Legislative Association
* Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association
* Canada-Japan Inter-Parliamentary Association
* Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Association
* Canadian Delegation to the Organization for Security & Co-operation Europe Parliamentary Assembly
* Canadian Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
* Canada Germany Interparliamentary Group
2015 comments on the Middle East
For the
2015 federal election, during a
Kitchener South—Hespeler debate, Tabbara mentioned that
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a retired Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. He served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, leader of t ...
refused to send troops into Iraq and
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
when he was prime minister even though
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
began sending troops to
Afghanistan in 2001 during Chrétien's tenure.
Tabbara's statement was challenged by Conservative candidate Marian Gagné to which he replied "So is bombing Syrian children OK?"
Tabbara apologized for the comments.
Sexual harassment allegations
Tabbara was investigated by the Liberal Party for allegations he sexually harassed a female staff member dating back to the 2015 election.
An internal investigation into the allegations was conducted by the Liberal Party and Tabbara was approved to seek re-election in 2019.
CBC News
CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...
reported that the party's investigation "determined that some of the allegations were substantiated".
2020 incident, arrest and charges
Tabarra and his former partner separated. On April 9, 2020, the situation escalated when Tabbara was arrested by police in Guelph, Ontario on charges that included two counts of alleged
assault
In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...
, one count of "
break and enter
Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) or housebreaking, is a property crime involving the illegal entry into a building or other area without permission, typically with the intention of committing a further criminal offence. Usually ...
and commit an indictable offence" and one count of
criminal harassment. The court imposed a
publication ban
A publication ban is a court order which prohibits the public or media from disseminating certain details of an otherwise public judicial proceeding. In Canada, publication bans are most commonly issued when the safety or reputation of a victim ...
on details of the case preventing further details of the charges from being reported publicly.
On June 5, 2020 it was reported that he is "stepping back from the Liberal caucus" but not resigning as an MP after the charges were revealed. Tabbara was jailed and bailed on Easter Friday 2020. Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...
and the Liberal Caucus were unaware of these charges, as the Guelph Police did not issue a media release. Tabbara's bail hearing was done remotely by a
Justice of the Peace 120 km away from the jailhouse he occupied.
Tabbara's trial was repeatedly pushed due to multiple delays, including the COVID-19 pandemic, from its initial August 28, 2020, date. The case was later adjourned until September 23, 2021.
On September 24, 2021, Tabbara pleaded guilty to two counts of assault and one of being unlawfully in a dwelling house.
The sentence imposed was a conditional discharge with probation for three years with various additional terms,
a five-year weapons prohibition, 120 hours of community service, as well as a restraining order against his former girlfriend and the man he assaulted.
Tabbara stated that his actions in 2020 were denounceable and completely out of character.
His attorney, Scott Hutchison, informed the court that following the night of the incident, Tabbara sought help by going into counselling for anger management within weeks.
Tabbara had no criminal record and no other interactions with criminal justice. Tabbara was under stress because of family, work and the pandemic. His attorney stated that it was as result of these circumstances that he made some very poor choices that evening.
Electoral record
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabbara, Marwan
Living people
Liberal Party of Canada MPs
Independent MPs in the Canadian House of Commons
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
Canadian Muslims
Lebanese Muslims
Lebanese emigrants to Canada
Politicians from Beirut
Politicians from Kitchener, Ontario
University of Guelph alumni
PepsiCo people
21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada
Canadian people of Lebanese descent
1984 births