sanctuary

I attended a War Resisters Support Campaign meeting last night. It was a national strategy session, including (on a conference call) Support groups from Toronto, London, Orillia, Ottawa, Nelson (BC), Thunder Bay, Victoria and Vancouver.

Among other things, I learned two bits of Canadian history.

During the Vietnam War, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau declared Canada a "refuge from militarism".

Trudeau called upon the government to change Canada's immigration policy, so that border guards could not ask about military status. That opened the door to Vietnam draft resisters and war deserters.

Those former fleeing young men are now in their late 50s and early 60s. They have been Canadians for some 40 years.

Canada can be a sanctuary again. Canada can shelter people who chose peace over war, democracy over the rule of force. I believe this speaks to the Canada most Canadians want to see.

It was a Conservative MP who changed Canada's policy towards the refugees known as "boat people".

Canada, much more a white country then than now, wasn't prepared to welcome tens of thousands of Southeast Asians. (Those refugees, of course, were fleeing the results of another US overseas adventure.) A Conservative MP (anyone know who?) appealed to the average Canadian to help, and changed a policy.

Using a sponsorship system, through which Canadian organizations and families could help immigrant families, 60,000 displaced people were re-settled in Canada between 1979 and 1981. They, too, are now Canadian.

I gleaned these two tidbits from a reliable source - the CBC's Andy Barrie, himself a Vietnam deserter - but I don't know any further details than what I've found online. If you know more, please help wmtc readers learn.

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Canada can once again be a sanctuary from militarism. Hundreds of former US soldiers who served time in Iraq, then turned their back on the war, are living in Canada. You can help them receive refugee status by helping to create the necessary political climate.

Tell your MPs, tell your neighbours, tell your blog readers, tell your co-workers. Three simple words: let them stay.

Here are some practical ways you can help.

Buy the video. "Let Them Stay" was produced by the War Resisters Support Campaign. It's an excellent introduction to the issue, and can help educate you and others about what US war resisters are facing in Canada.

The Support Campaign is an all-volunteer organization. 100% of your $20 will go towards legal and material aid for war resisters.

Contact the federal government. Write your MP. Write Stephen Harper. Write the Immigration Minister. Tell them this is the Canada you want to live in. Tell them: let them stay.

Sign the petition. If you haven't done so already, join 14,000 of your countrypeople in asking the government to let them stay.

Spread the word. How many Canadians don't even know there are US war resisters seeking refuge in Canada? Among those who know, how many mistakenly believe the former soldiers can just live legally in Canada? Talk to your friends, your co-workers, your running buddies, the folks at your dog park. You can help raise awareness, and help create support for those three words.

October 27, 2007 is an International Day of Action Against War. Join your neighbours to protest the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. There will be simultaneous protests in Canada and the US. Resisters will be there.

Let them stay.