No previous diplomatic stoppage to extradition
OTTAWA • The section of Canada’s extradition law that the federal government is being urged to apply to drop the extradition case against Meng Wanzhou has rarely been used — and never for diplomatic or political reasons.
That was the advice given Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by his national security adviser shortly after the Huawei executive was arrested in Vancouver in December 2018 at the request of the United States.
In apparent retaliation, China soon after detained two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who have remained in prison while Meng’s case wends its way through B.C. court.
Trudeau is now under mounting pressure, from Kovrig’s family and 19 prominent former politicians, diplomats and jurists to terminate extradition proceedings against Meng in hopes that China will free the two men. They point out that Section 23 (3) of the Extradition Act gives the justice minister the power to halt extradition proceedings at any time without having to give a reason.
But in a memorandum to Trudeau shortly after Meng’s arrest, his then-national sec
THERE ARE NO EXAMPLES OF THE MINISTER DISCHARGING A CASE FOR POLITICAL OR DIPLOMATIC REASONS.
urity adviser, Greta Bossenmaier, pointed out that the section had rarely been used in the preceding 10 years.
The memo, obtained by The Canadian Press through access-to-information law, said Canada receives about 100 requests for extradition every year from foreign countries, about 60 per cent of which eventually result in extradition of the sought-after individuals.
Since 2008, Bossenmaier said only 12 cases — nine of them initiated by the U.S. — had been discharged or terminated by the justice minister. The grounds for dropping the cases varied but she added: “Note there are no examples of the minister discharging a case for political or diplomatic reasons.”
It is the prospect of Kovrig and Spavor essentially being held hostage by China as long as Meng’s case remains unresolved that prompted the 19 eminent Canadians — including former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour, former justice minister Allan Rock and former NDP leader Ed Broadbent — to write Trudeau this week urging that the extradition proceedings against her be dropped.
Trudeau flatly rejected that appeal Thursday, arguing that giving China what it wants would encourage it and other countries to engage in hostage diplomacy.