China-canada ties remain cool as Meng case heads to court
VANCOUVER The international spotlight will be turned on British Columbia’s Supreme Court later this month as Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou’s extradition hearing is set to begin, more than a year after her arrest shattered Canada-china relations.
Beijing’s detainment of two Canadians and its restriction of some imports including canola have left many observers eager for a resolution. Some are hopeful the court process will bring relief, while others want Justice Minister David Lametti to step in.
Lametti has the legal authority to stop the process at any time, said extradition lawyer Gary Botting.
“It’s really silliness for him to say he has to obey the rule of law because it’s before the courts. No. What (the law) says is that he can stop the whole process and the courts must comply with whatever he decides,” Botting said.
The RCMP arrested Meng at Vancouver’s airport on Dec. 1, 2018 at the request of the United States, which is seeking her extradition on fraud charges. Meng denies the allegations and also accuses Canadian authorities of violating her rights during the arrest.
The Huawei chief financial officer is on bail and living in one of her two multimillion-dollar homes in Vancouver. A hearing is set to begin Jan. 20, focusing on the test of dual criminality, or whether the U.S. allegations would also be a crime in Canada.
If the judge rules the test has not been met, Meng will be free to leave Canada, though she’ll still have to avoid the U.S. if she wants to evade the charges. If the judge finds there is dual criminality, the hearing will proceed to a second phase.
The second phase, scheduled for June, will consider defence allegations that the Canada Border Services Agency, the RCMP and Federal Bureau of Investigation conspired to conduct a “covert criminal investigation” at the airport.
Border officers detained Meng for three hours, seized her electronic devices and passcodes and handed them to the RCMP. Meng did not have access to a lawyer during the detainment and a border guard questioned her about Huawei’s business in Iran.
A lawyer for the Attorney General of Canada has said border officers are required by law to conduct an admissibility examination on all travellers entering Canada, and that the passcodes were given to the Mounties by mistake.
The turmoil could have been avoided, Botting said, had former justice minister Jody Wilson-raybould declined the U.S. request to arrest Meng in the first place. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also said he was informed of the arrest before it occurred.
The Canadian Press