Consorting With The Devil

"Everyone in a leadership role carries a responsibility for transparency and to be open and honest, otherwise it becomes difficult to create a sense of trust and safety."

"For too long violence against women has been viewed as a personal and private matter rather than a public one. Everyone has a role to play in ending violence against women."

"Community leaders are held to a higher account and there is a need for authenticity because they are in a position of trust and power."

Jennifer Hutton, chief executive, Women's Crisis Services of Waterloo Region, Ontario

"The matter of media releases comes under the direct purview of the Chief of Police who is charged with the administration and oversight of the service's operations."

Robert Carter, chair, Guelph Police Services Board

"I live in the riding he represents and I am very concerned for these allegations and more concerned about the censoring of information relating to the case."

"How are we as voters supposed to understand if this person has the moral authority to represent us if we are not able to get any information?"

Jason Morris, riding of Kitchener South-Hespeler

Marwan Tabbara, 35, is charged with two counts of assault, one count of break and enter and commit an indictable offence and one count of criminal harassment. Marwan Tabbara/Facebook

A sitting Liberal Member of Parliament, charged with a serious criminal offence, arrested, placed in prison to await a bail hearing, and no word of the event was aired, either to report it to Liberal authorities in the House of Commons, or to release it as a news item of general interest to media, local or provincial. This, when the leader of his party and the current prime minister, celebrates himself as a feminist, places women's rights front and center of his agenda, and dismissed two other Liberal MPs several years back for rumours of sexual harassment, effectively ending their political careers.

The Guelph Police Service in Guelph Ontario -- where the incident took place on Easter weekend, located about 90 kilometres west of Toronto -- and the Member of Parliament in question, Marwan Tabbara, evidently made a decision that his arrest and all the allegations that went along with it, would be kept private as though this was not a public figure accountable for his actions to the public, and particularly to the voters in his region. A man whose character had assumed baggage at variance with that of the perception of those who voted him into office, and who decided deceit was the best policy for him.

This is a man who was charged with stalking a woman over a three-month period, to the point where she became fearful for her life. This man broke into the home of the woman and assaulted the woman and a male who was with her in the home. Police were called, and Tabbara was arrested and charged with break-and-enter, and two counts of assault. The Guelph police in their decision to forego releasing information on the incident and the identity of the accused, did so, they said, as they judged Tabbara not to represent a risk to the public.

Because of the general lockdown due to COVID-19, and the court system operating via video, Tabbara's hearing took place over video link. He was not required to appear at the courthouse, and was released promising to pay a penalty of $1,000 should he breach any condition of his release -- and a publication ban placed on evidence. The Liberal caucus heard and knew nothing of their colleague's arrest over a criminal assault.

A manual produced by the House of Commons Procedure and Practice states: "If a member is arrested on a criminal charge or is committed for a contempt of court, the House should be notified by the authorities if it is in session." A spokesperson for the Speaker of the House of Commons responded by informing the news media: "This practice is no longer scrupulously and/or consistently followed. Parliamentary authorities note that the failure to inform the Speaker or the House has not been viewed as a matter of privilege."

This is a Member of Parliament appointed chair of the House of Commons subcommittee on international human rights. A position from which he has now resigned. In the wake of the event and the charges laid against 35-year-old Tabbara becoming public knowledge, he resigned from the Liberal caucus, remaining a sitting Member of Parliament, as an independent.

"I personally believe strongly in the right of every individual to live a life free of the hurt and trauma of physical, verbal or emotional abuse. I continue to receive counselling and treatment for anxiety and depression". And there you have it, moral cowards always tend to revert to snivelling confessions of depression causing them to behave in virulently anti-social ways, so it's not really their fault, but that of the Devil.

Liberal incumbent Marwan Tabbara after casting his vote at an advance poll. (Source: Tabbara team)