What a day! What a friggin wonderful day!
As you already know, we won our recent and long-fought-for battle. The House of Commons voted 137 to 110 to allow Iraq War resisters to stay in Canada.
Now one more piece of the puzzle remains: to persuade the Harper Government to carry out the will of the people.
As you know, the motion that passed yesterday is technically non-binding. It does not technically compel the Government to act.
I use that word "technically" because, if Canada is a democracy, the motion must be morally binding. Stephen Harper leads a minority government. He is not supposed to be a dictator. He is not supposed to have the final say.
In Canada, the final say is supposed to come from Parliament, the elected representatives of the Canadian people. And the majority of those elected representatives have now spoken.
So if we want to keep Corey Glass - and all his brother and sister resisters - safe and free in Canada, we must continue to work. We have a short window of opportunity before Corey's threatened deportation date, after which Parliament will rise. So we will be very busy.
Two things you can do right now.
First, please email or call your own MP. If she or he voted yes yesterday, say thank you. If she or he voted no, express your disappointment.
Second - and third, fourth, fifth - call Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. You can do this every day. I sure will. You can call Mr. Harper's office, too.
Tell both Harper and Finley that you expect them to carry out the will of the Canadian people: to cease all deportation proceedings against Corey Glass and other Iraq War resisters, and to implement a program that will allow them to stay in Canada.
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Diane Finley
613.996.4974
finley.d@parl.gc.ca / finled1@parl.gc.ca
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
613.992.4211
pm@pm.gc.ca
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