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Gurmant Singh Grewal, is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
,
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
) is a
CanadianCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
politician and former
Conservative Party of CanadaThe Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
Member of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
. Gurmant and his wife,
Nina GrewalNarinder Kaur Grewal, MP , is a Canadian politician of the Conservative Party. She was elected in the general election of June 2004 to represent the constituency of Fleetwood—Port Kells, British Columbia....
, were the first married couple to serve in the
Canadian House of CommonsThe House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
at the same time. First elected to the Canadian House of Commons on June 2, 1997 for the riding of
Surrey CentralSurrey Central was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1997 to 2004.- History :This riding was created in 1996 from parts of Surrey—White Rock—South Langley riding...
and re-elected there on November 27, 2000, he represented the riding of
Newton—North DeltaNewton—North Delta is a federal electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004...
from 2004 until 2005. His wife represents
Fleetwood—Port KellsFleetwood—Port Kells is a federal electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004.-Geography:...
.
In 2002, he was one of over 46,000 Canadians awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal for service to Canada.
In 2005, Grewal emerged at the centre of numerous political controversies that eventually gained significant national and some international attention. On November 29, 2005, Conservative Party leader
Stephen HarperStephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
announced in an interview that Grewal would not be a candidate in the
2006 federal electionThe 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...
.
Early life and career
Grewal was born in India, but emigrated to
LiberiaLiberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
as a young man, where he was a successful businessman.
In the
1996 British Columbia provincial electionThe British Columbia general election of 1996 was the thirty sixth provincial election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 30, 1996, and held on May 28, 1996...
, Grewal was the
Reform BCThe Reform Party of British Columbia is a populist right wing political party in British Columbia, Canada. Although its name is similar to the defunct Reform Party of Canada, the provincial party was founded before the federal party was and it did not have any formal association with...
candidate in the riding of
Delta NorthDelta North is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada.- Demographics :- Member of Legislative Assembly :Its MLA is Guy Gentner. He was first elected in 2005...
. He won 769 votes, or 4% of the popular vote.
In 1997, he was made the
Reform Party of CanadaThe Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party....
nominee in the federal riding of
Surrey CentralSurrey Central was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1997 to 2004.- History :This riding was created in 1996 from parts of Surrey—White Rock—South Langley riding...
, and was elected in the
1997 federal electionThe Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...
with 17,438 votes, or 35% of the popular vote.
Immigration bond controversy
On April 6, 2005, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration,
Joe VolpeGiuseppe Joseph "Joe" Volpe, PC, was a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 until the 2011 federal election, being surpassed by the conservative member Joe Oliver Joe Oliver, and held two senior positions in Prime Minister Paul Martin's Cabinet...
, asked the parliamentary Ethics Commissioner and
Royal Canadian Mounted PoliceThe Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
to investigate Grewal following his testimony to a parliamentary committee. In that testimony, Grewal had stated that he regularly asked those seeking his help in getting visitor visas for their relatives, if they would be willing to post bonds guaranteeing their return. Grewal contends that he was demonstrating that such immigration bonds could work as a way to prevent spurious refugee claims and illegal immigration. There is no evidence that any money was actually exchanged (or who would be paid should the bonds be called). On June 22, the ethics commissioner cleared him of these charges, although he criticized Grewal for making an error in judgement. He said the practice placed Grewal in an apparent conflict of interest, however, Grewal was making an honest mistake and never pocketed any money from the pledges.
The "Grewal tapes"
In mid-May, at the time the Liberal government risked losing a confidence vote on its 2005 budget (which was later decided in the government's favour by the speaker, after a tie in the house), negotiations began between Grewal and the Liberals about the possibility of Grewal's changing political parties. After several BC Liberals acted as go-betweens, Grewal met with
Ujjal DosanjhUjjal Dev Singh Dosanjh, PC, QC, is a Sikh Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as 33rd Premier of British Columbia from 2000 to 2001 and as a Liberal Party of Canada Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2011 including a stint as Minister of Health from 2004 until 2006 when the party lost...
, Minister of Health, and Tim Murphy, the Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister's Office, on three occasions May 16-18. There were also numerous phone calls.
In these negotiations Grewal offered to change parties in exchange for a senate seat for his wife, a cabinet post for himself, and an apology from
Joe VolpeGiuseppe Joseph "Joe" Volpe, PC, was a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 until the 2011 federal election, being surpassed by the conservative member Joe Oliver Joe Oliver, and held two senior positions in Prime Minister Paul Martin's Cabinet...
. In response, Murphy and Dosanjh made vague promises of future reward. While these negotiations were going on, prominent Conservative MP
Belinda StronachBelinda Caroline Stronach, PC is a Canadian businessperson, philanthropist and former politician. She was a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons from 2004 to 2008. Originally elected as a Conservative, she later crossed the floor to join the Liberals...
defected to the Liberals and did receive a ministerial position in the government. In the end, Grewal did not change parties.
Unbeknownst to his interlocutors, Grewal was recording the conversations, a fact that he revealed to the public on the evening of May 18, where Grewal publicly accused the Liberals of trying to buy his vote with offers of a cabinet or a diplomatic post for himself and a senate seat for his wife. The next day he claimed that he had made four hours of recording, and released nine minutes of a recording of a conversation with Murphy, in which Murphy suggests that he abstain from the coming confidence vote.
New Democratic PartyThe New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
MP
Yvon GodinYvon Godin is a Canadian politician.Godin is currently a New Democratic Party Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Acadie—Bathurst since 1997. Previously, Godin was a labour representative for the United Steelworkers...
referred them to
Bernard ShapiroBernard Jack Shapiro, is a Canadian academic, civil servant, former Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University from 1994 to 2004, and the first Ethics Commissioner of Canada between May 17, 2004 and March 29, 2007.-Biography:...
, Parliamentary Ethics Commissioner and to the
Royal Canadian Mounted PoliceThe Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
(RCMP).
Two weeks later, on May 31, Grewal handed over recordings to Shapiro and the RCMP. Simultaneously he released an hour and 15 minutes of recordings and transcripts to the public.
Several news outlets almost immediately began pointing to portions of the tape that seemed to be edited, something that Grewal and the Conservatives denied. On June 2, 2005, the Conservatives issued a news release admitting that two short sections had been accidentally omitted. They simultaneously released a new recording that was 15 minutes longer than the one issued on May 31; on June 5 a new transcript was released.
As this was happening, audio experts began identifying clear edits in the May 31 tapes. Whether there are also edits in the June 2nd versions remains controversial.
Sometime in mid- to late June, Grewal handed more copies of the recordings over to the RCMP, though he subsequently explained that these were his own personal copies of already existing recordings.
In mid-August, the RCMP announced that there would be no further criminal investigation into the tapes and their contents.
On January 25, 2006, Shapiro released a report that was sharply critical of Grewal. Shapiro stated, "While it is not clear whether Mr. Grewal genuinely sought an inducement to change his vote or whether he just acted the part in an attempt to entrap Mr. Dosanjh, his actions were, in either case, extremely inappropriate."
Package incident and stress leave
On June 6, Grewal announced that he was taking a "stress leave" from Parliament, after
Air CanadaAir Canada is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. The airline, founded in 1936, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 178 destinations worldwide. It is the world's tenth largest passenger airline by number of destinations, and the airline is a...
announced that he was under investigation for attempting to induce passengers on a flight from Vancouver to Ottawa, on which Grewal was not travelling, to carry a package on his behalf, which would have violated security regulations. On June 17, this investigation cleared Grewal.
Controversy over Grewal's immigration to Canada
Questions have also arisen as to the validity of his immigration application. In 1991, Canadian immigration laws required prospective entrepreneur immigrants to manage a business that would be set up within two years and provide employment opportunities to at least one Canadian. Grewal bought shares of a small carpet company in
VancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
for US$40,000, only to sell them back the next day.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1395655,00050001.htm His former business partner Gurwinder Dhillon claimed in a
Globe and MailThe Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
article that Grewal purchased these shares as a means to fulfil his obligation as an investor immigrant when he moved to Canada from Liberia.
Liberian connections
In light of the 2005 controversies, an interview given by Grewal to the Vancouver newspaper
The ProvinceThe Province is a daily, tabloid format newspaper published in British Columbia by Postmedia. It has been a daily newspaper since 1898.According to a recent NADbank survey, The Provinces average weekday readership was 520,100, making it British Columbia's most read newspaper...
in 1995 resurfaced. At the time, Grewal was seeking a
Liberal PartyThe British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...
nomination in the British Columbia provincial election. When reporter Don Hauka described Grewal as "politically inexperienced", Grewal phoned him to clarify his previous experience. Grewal himself claimed both verbally and in a
résuméA résumé is a document used by individuals to present their background and skillsets. Résumés can be used for a variety of reasons but most often to secure new employment. A typical résumé contains a summary of relevant job experience and education...
that he faxed to Hauka that he had been an advisor to dictator
Samuel DoeSamuel Kanyon Doe was the 21st President of Liberia, serving from 1986 until his assassination in 1990. He had previously served as Chairman of the People's Redemption Council from 1980 to 1986. He was the first indigenous head of state in Liberian history.Doe was a part of a rural tribe in inland...
during
LiberiaLiberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
's
Green RevolutionGreen Revolution refers to a series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives, occurring between the 1940s and the late 1970s, that increased agriculture production around the world, beginning most markedly in the late 1960s....
. In 1995 Grewal also claimed to be "Honorary vice-consul of Liberia in Canada". Subsequently Grewal has denied all such connections to the former government of Liberia.
http://www.thetyee.ca/Views/2005/06/07/GrewalMystery/ Grewal and his wife Nina moved from Liberia in 1991, and both their children were born there.
Election expenses
On July 11, 2005,
CBC NewsThe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
reported that several people who donated to Grewal's campaign in 2004 claimed never to have received tax receipts for their donations, and that at Grewal's request several of these donations had been made to Grewal himself and not to his riding association or the Conservative party. On June 3, 2009, following an RCMP investigation, it was determined that there wasn't sufficient evidence to ground any charges under the Criminal Code.
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