(Ottawa) Former Liberal MP Raj Grewal sent the names of 100 people he wanted to invite to receptions with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in India in 2018 and no one on his list raised red flags with the Trudeau’s staff before the trip took place, an Ottawa courtroom heard Monday.
Posted at 9:34 p.m.
Raj Grewal, 36, faces two breach of trust charges, relating to loans he sought from friends, family and other associates to help pay off a multi-million dollar debt , accumulated due to gambling problem.
These charges allege that Mr. Grewal, using his political office, lied to obtain loans and that he used his office to obtain loans for personal gain.
Mr. Grewal denied any foul play. In 2018, he said he sought treatment for a gambling addiction and only got loans from friends and family, adding that everything was paid back.
The Crown alleges Mr Grewal sought loans from people in return for securing them access to travel to India or work on immigration cases.
Mr Grewal was elected in 2015 from the riding of Brampton, Ont., but split from the Liberals in 2018 when the gambling problem came to light. He sat as an independent for nearly a year, but did not run as a candidate in the 2019 federal election.
Charges of breach of trust
He was originally charged by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in September 2020 with four counts of breach of trust and one charge of fraud, but only two of the breach of trust counts remain.
On Monday, as the trial entered its second week, Crown Attorney Tim Wightman presented a former Liberal political staffer with emails and documents outlining the process by which MPs could invite people to events during of the trip to India.
Vandana Kattar Miller, who in 2018 was senior assistant to Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, served as the link between the PMO and Liberal MPs who wanted to go on the India tour in February 2018.
The nine-day trip was rocky as Indian politicians accused Mr. Trudeau of sympathizing with Sikh separatist extremists. The trip went completely off the rails when it was revealed that invitations to two receptions with Justin Trudeau had been sent to a man with ties to Sikh extremists. The man was convicted in Canada of attempting to assassinate an Indian politician in 1986.
But in court, the Crown is focused on the people Mr Grewal has put on the guest list.
Mme Kattar Miller said there were two larger receptions — one in Delhi and one in Mumbai — and MPs who wanted to join could submit the names of people they wanted to invite to the receptions.
More than a dozen Liberal MPs joined the trip and their guest list runs to over 12 pages. Mr. Grewal’s initial list contained 100 names.
Mme Kattar Miller said there was also a more intimate meeting with Trudeau in Delhi to which MPs could invite up to five people. This event allowed guests to meet Mr. Trudeau and have their picture taken with him.
During cross-examination, Mr. Grewal’s defense attorney confirmed with Mr.me Kattar Miller that MPs could submit as many names as they wished for the invitation list and that there were no restrictions on who could be invited.
She also confirmed to him that she had done a “high-level” review of the submitted names and that none of them had raised any alarms. “I don’t remember anything,” she said.
The trial is expected to last until the end of July.