Tuesday, June 30, 2026
ADVT 
National

Judge to reserve decision on Meng Wanzhou bail

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 13 Jan, 2021 09:51 PM
  • Judge to reserve decision on Meng Wanzhou bail

A judge says he will reserve his decision on whether to loosen bail restrictions for Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou.

Meng's lawyers want her to be allowed to leave her Vancouver home outside the hours of her curfew without being accompanied by private security staff, who they say put her at greater risk of contracting COVID-19.

The chief financial officer for Huawei is wanted in the United States on fraud charges based on allegations that both she and the company deny.

Justice William Ehrcke of the B.C. Supreme Court says he will reserve his decision and raised the possibility of issuing it at the end of the month.

The court heard today that security staff have reported being monitored while accompanying Meng in Vancouver, though they have not had to intervene to physically protect her since she was released on bail after her arrest on a U.S. warrant at Vancouver's airport in December 2018.

The president of Lions Gate Risk Management, Doug Maynard, testified his staff have also reported threatening letters and Chinese officials have demanded that she be allowed to return to China, citing threats against her.

U.S. officials allege Meng misrepresented Huawei's business dealings in Iran, putting the bank HSBC at risk of violating American sanctions.

Meng's lawyers are fighting her extradition with several legal arguments claiming she was subjected to an abuse of process and she should be freed.

They allege Meng's arrest was unlawful, that U.S. authorities misled Canadian officials in their summary of the case, that Meng was used as a political pawn by U.S. President Donald Trump and that the United States is trying to assert jurisdiction where it doesn't exist under international law.

MORE National ARTICLES

Liberals ease access to emergency COVID-19 benefit, plan to top-up wages

The federal government is making changes to its COVID-19 programs to send emergency aid to seasonal workers without jobs and those whose hours have been drastically cut but who still have some income. The changes will also allow people who are making up to $1,000 a month to qualify for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, as well as those whose employment insurance benefits have run out since the start of the calendar year.    

Liberals ease access to emergency COVID-19 benefit, plan to top-up wages

Canada focused on fighting COVID-19 Trudeau steers clear of WHO controversy

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused Wednesday to join the escalating global debate about the World Health Organization's handling of the COVID-19 crisis, insisting Canada remains focused on working with experts around the world to combat the pandemic. Trudeau repeatedly batted back questions about Donald Trump's plan to halt funding to the UN agency and review what the U.S. president says was a failure to properly assess the threat posed by the novel coronavirus back in January.

Canada focused on fighting COVID-19 Trudeau steers clear of WHO controversy

With strong control measures, the federal public health agency projects that 11,000 to 22,000 Canadians could die of COVID-19 in the coming months

Canada could see the end of the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic before autumn, according to federal projections, but only if strong physical distancing measures are strictly maintained the whole time. Even in that best-case scenario, the federal public health agency projects that a total of 4,400 to 44,000 Canadians could die of COVID-19 in the coming months.    

With strong control measures, the federal public health agency projects that 11,000 to 22,000 Canadians could die of COVID-19 in the coming months

Canada lost more than a million jobs in March, but April may be even worse

The Canadian economy lost an unprecedented one million jobs in March — the worst recorded single-month change — as the COVID-19 crisis began to take hold, lifting the unemployment rate to 7.8 per cent, Statistics Canada reported Thursday. The loss is eight times worse than the previous one-month record, yet economists warned it will likely be even worse in April, when the impact of physical distancing practices and other measures became clearer and millions of Canadians began receiving emergency federal aid.

Canada lost more than a million jobs in March, but April may be even worse

The latest numbers on COVID-19 in Canada

Total number of cases broken down by province and the total number right across the country. 

The latest numbers on COVID-19 in Canada

BC Finance Minister Carole James projecting a grim outlook of the job market in the wake of COVID-19

BC Finance Minister Carole James projecting a grim outlook of the job market in the wake of COVID-19
B.C. Finance Minister Carole James says the province lost 132,000 jobs last month, but it's going to get worse before it gets better due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She says the latest Statistics Canada Labour Force numbers indicate B.C.'s jobless rate rose to 7.2 per cent from five per cent in March.

BC Finance Minister Carole James projecting a grim outlook of the job market in the wake of COVID-19