I'll have a "Draught Dodger!": Canadian Parliament votes again to let U.S. war resisters stay

[babylonsister]

O, Canada! Merci beaucoup! :loveya:


I'll have a "Draught Dodger!": Canadian Parliament votes again to let U.S. war resisters stay

by Mike Ferner | April 1, 2009



On March 30, for the second time in 10 months, Canada's House of Commons told Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative government, including Immigration Minister, Jason Kenney, to stop deporting U.S. soldiers resisting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The vote united the three opposition parties, the Liberals, the Bloc Quebecois and the New Democratic Party in a close 129-125 vote.

Last week, the War Resisters Support Campaign rallied for former Army soldier, Kimberly Rivera, the first female U.S. soldier to go to Canada. Nearly 100 people filled the chairs and lined the aisles at the Steelworkers hall in Toronto for Rivera, her husband and three children, the youngest born in Canada six months ago.

The morning after the March 25 rally, Rivera was due to be deported back to the U.S. to face an Army court martial, but Federal Judge James Russell agreed with Rivera's argument that resisters who speak out against the war publicly in Canada receive harsher sentences, and granted her a temporary stay.

"This was the fifth time that the court ruled that Iraq war resisters face harsher punishment if they're sent back to the U.S.," said Michelle Robidoux, spokesperson for the Toronto-based support campaign. "The courts have spoken, Parliament has spoken and Canadians have made their views clear. These conscientious objectors should not be sent back to the United States to face jail time for opposing the Iraq War."

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http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/21058

[ConcernedCanuk]

1. Well it's about time! - I googled - it's true - US soldiers can get refuge in Canada, again

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From another article:

Deserters have a right to stay in Canada
Posted By PAUL COPELAND
Updated 1 day ago


The Harper government attempts to justify deporting U. S. Iraq War resisters with a familiar, but untrue, narrative. They say that unlike during the Vietnam War, U. S. soldiers are now volunteers and are not considered refugees by the United Nations. They say refugee applications are evaluated fairly on their own merits, and there is no need to create a separate program for U. S. Iraq War resisters.

All these statements are false.

Firstly, not all Vietnam War resisters were conscripts, and many Iraq War resisters are redeployed against their will. Vietnam War resisters included draft dodgers who fled before induction, those who accepted their draft notice and were inducted, and those who voluntarily joined the military services.

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More articles on this issue here

[babylonsister]

2. Heh. You are well named, and thank you all! nt

[kedrys]

3. And if I may, my deepest apologies regarding the continued tenure of Harper

We couldn't quite kick him out last fall. We'll keep working on it. :hi: