Question Period Note: UNITED STATES V. MENG EXTRADITION

Background and status of the Meng extradition proceedings.

• Canada is a rule of law country.
• Ms. Meng is being afforded a fair process before the British Columbia Supreme Court in accordance with extradition law and our Treaty with the United States.
• This matter, as is the case of all extraditions at this stage, is being handled by Department of Justice Canada officials.
• It would be inappropriate for me to comment on the specifics of this case given I may ultimately need to make a decision later in the process – if and when the judge hearing the case concludes that there is sufficient evidence to justify extradition.

On November 30, 2018, the United States requested the provisional arrest of Wanzhou Meng pursuant to the US-Canada Extradition Treaty. Ms Meng, a Chinese national, is the daughter of the founder of Huawei telecommunications and is herself a senior executive of the company. ‎ The alleged fraud relates to her conduct as an officer of the company.

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A provisional arrest warrant was issued by a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia on November 30, 2018. On December 1, 2018, upon arriving at the Vancouver airport, Ms. Meng was arrested on the provisional arrest warrant. Ms. Meng appeared before a judge of the British Columbia Supreme Court (BCSC) on December 3, 2018. She sought bail pending her extradition proceedings. After a three-day bail hearing, the BCSC released Ms. Meng on a number of strict conditions, including that she be subject to electronic monitoring at her expense.

The United States formally requested Ms. Meng’s extradition on January 28, 2019 and an Authority to Proceed was issued by the Minister of Justice’s delegate on February 28, 2019.

A disclosure motion was heard by Madam Justice Holmes of the BC Supreme Court on September 23-25 and 30, October 1-3, 2019 and further evidence and submissions were filed in court on October 9 and 16, 2019. Justice Holmes reserved her decision and did not indicate when her ruling will be made.

The following dates have been set aside for pre-hearing applications:

November 27-28, 2019: The Media Consortium has filed an application seeking the Court’s permission to record and broadcast the balance of the Court processes in this case. The Media Consortium’s application is scheduled to be heard from November 27-28, 2019. Their materials in support of their application have been filed with the Court. Based on the current deadlines, the materials of counsel for the Attorney General of Canada must be filed by November 26th, 2019. Counsel for Ms. Meng have advised that they will be opposing the media’s application. The Attorney General of Canada will also oppose the application.

January 20-24, 2020: Ms. Meng’s application for ruling on double criminality will be heard by the BCSC. Ms. Meng’s counsel have filed their submissions on this application and the Attorney General of Canada’s response is due in January 2020;

April 27 - 30, 2020: Hearing on the admissibility of defence evidence;

June 15-30, 2020: Hearing of defence application for stay for abuse of process.

The extradition hearing proper has been scheduled to commence on September 28, 2020.
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A civil case related to this matter is also before the BCSC. It has its own timelines and process, which are separate from the extradition case.

There has been significant media attention in relation to this case.

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