let them stay week 2: get ready to fight

[Allan guest post]

The Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, and the Canadian Border Services Agency - that is, the Harper Government - has told former US solider and Iraq War veteran Kimberly Rivera, her husband and their three young children to leave Canada by March 26, or face removal. If sent back to the US, war resister Kim Rivera will be turned over to US military authorities.

The Harper Government is acting in defiance of a motion passed by Parliament last June demanding that it cease all deportation proceedings against US war resisters and allow them to apply for residence in Canada.

Instead of following the will of the people - which is what usually happens in a democracy - Harper has decided to rule the country according to his personal values and whims. He has sped up the process of deportation and seems to want to deport as many war resisters as he can, as quickly as he can.

We cannot let his totalitarian behaviour continue any longer. Canada's government should not be moonlighting as an enforcement arm of the US military.

This week -- March 16-20 -- is Let Them Stay Week 2.

Beginning Monday morning, people all over Canada will call or write Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and voice their opinions. They will call their MPs. They will write letters to local newspapers, email their friends, hand out leaflets, and post on blogs and Facebook. They will also gather with fellow supporters of peace at various gatherings throughout the area.

Monday's task: write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper

Our objective is clear: we want the Government of Canada to follow the will of the people -- nearly two-thirds of all Canadians and a majority of Parliament.

So, this week - and after this week, too! - please do what you can to let your family, friends, co-workers and elected officials know that the Canada you want to live in is a country that respects soldiers who obey international law, who refuse illegal orders, who follow their own conscience, and who have bravely left the US military, uprooted their families, and come to a foreign country seeking only to live in peace.

More details on Let Them Stay Week 2 will be posted here and on Resisters.ca as they are announced.

Also: The War Resisters Support Campaign needs financial help for all the legal costs the Harper government has forced onto war resisters. To donate to the Legal Defense Fundraising Campaign, click here.