Daughter of accused faces tough questioning at Burlington mansion trial

The daughter of a Burlington commune leader on trial for a number of assault, human trafficking and firearms-related charges faced tough questions from the Crown as the virtual trial of Mohan Jarry" Ahlowalia continued Thursday, Apr. 14.

Ahlowalia has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

At the Apr. 14 proceedings, new photo evidence of Ahlowalia and daughter Sjonum Awalia St-Cyr at a shooting range was shown in court.

St-Cyr testified that it was another family member who had assisted her in using the firearms and not her father, but assistant Crown attorney Monica MacKenzie argued that the photos appear to suggest otherwise.

Can we conclude that your father was seen with the firearms, then assisting you with how to shoot the firearms at the shooting range?" MacKenzie asked.

The witness said she didn't have a specific recollection of him assisting her.

Based on the photos, if that's what we can conclude from this, then sure," she said. But if you're asking me to go into my memory and remember that moment in time, I can't do that because I'm being truthful."

She also testified to having never seen firearms cases and ammunition boxes in Ahlowalia's main bedroom and temporary sleeping area in the basement of the Mount Nemo property.

The day before, she told the court that her father had no interest in firearms.

On the involvement of the woman at the centre of the allegations at the family's restaurant, the witness said that the woman - whose identity is protected under a publication ban - started working in the spring of 2017 and continued until her departure from the residence.

According to St-Cyr, the woman volunteered to work in the kitchen prior to an expected busy Mother's Day weekend at the restaurant that year - and that she received training from Ahlowalia and another family member, though it wasn't until the beginning of 2018 that the woman was considered to be proficient.

The witness said that while the woman was at the restaurant daily during opening hours, there was a lot of downtime between lunch and dinner service.

I'm going to suggest that you're trying to minimize (her) involvement in the restaurant and how much she worked," the Crown prosecutor argued.

Absolutely not. I'm telling you exactly how it was and that it was basically the same for me," said the witness.

The Crown asked why the woman was only paid approximately $500 per month ($250 every two weeks) before finally receiving a salary based on a 40-hour work week starting from November of 2018.

The witness described the amount as something that we gave her to look after some of her expenses, you know, and it was just a gesture."

That way of a gesture was not necessarily there to compensate (for) those hours that she was at the restaurant," St-Cyr said, noting that as the restaurant became more established they started providing benefits and then put working family members on the restaurant's payroll.

The witness denied it was something directed by Ahlowalia - and that the decision was hers and her husband's.

The trial continues Tuesday, April 26.