In the space of one week in June, Vancouver criminal defence lawyer Melanie Begalka heard something from three of her clients that bothered her enough to go public.
In this case, “public” was posting a comment on Twitter, the social media platform now known as X.
“I’ve had three clients this week asking to extend their time in custody,” Begalka wrote. “The extreme housing crisis, fear of dangerous drugs on the street and general lack of resources, it’s all real. And a terrible indictment of society when the best people can do is jail.”
The results suggest he’s well-liked by those who think they know him well — but more Canadians feel they don’t, and the impressions they have of him at this point signal challenges ahead.
In 2015, Polman claims she was lured to Syria by her husband, an ISIS member who she met online. In 2019, she was detained for her association with the terrorist group and spent three years in a detention camp in Northern Syria. She was freed in 2022 and returned to Canada.
Michael “Sarah” Cirillo became a journalist before joining the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in October 2022, and eventually got promoted to the rank of sergeant before becoming an AFU spokesman. Knowles revealed that Cirillo began “to explore transition” two months after marrying his wife. He eventually divorced his wife, admitting that “she carried this secret in silence and in 