how you can support jailed war resister robin long

If you want to send a message of support to Robin Long, the war resister who is in jail in BC, please send mail to robertages@dccnet.com, with the subject line "For Robin Long". Robert will make sure Robin gets your message of hope and good will.

After that, please call or email our friends Immigration and Citizenship Minister Diane Finley and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Urge them to stop the deportations and uphold the June 3 motion in Parliament calling for sanctuary in Canada for all war resisters.

* * * *

Robin Long was arrested in Nelson B.C. last Friday and is threatened with deportation as early as Tuesday July 15. As of this morning he was removed and we aren't sure where he is. We have to act quickly to ensure the government does not illegally deport him before a federal judge issues a stay order.

The refusal of the federal government to stop deportations and actions taken by the Canadian Border Services Agency make it clear the Government wants to hand over the conscientious objectors to the US as soon as possible. This is contrary to the wishes of the majority of Canadians, and contrary to the will of Parliament.

In April 2005, when he was Opposition Leader, Stephen Harper said, "The Prime Minister has the moral responsibility to respect the will of the House." Mr. Harper, do you have that moral responsibility?

Let's ask him!

* * * *

Prime Minister Stephen Harper
613.992.4211
pm@pm.gc.ca

Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Diane Finley
613.996.4974
finley.d@parl.gc.ca
finled1@parl.gc.ca

homework help

You know I get a lot of email from people who want to move to Canada. I try to be helpful, although my first-hand knowledge is limited to the route we took.

I don't know anything about student visas, temporary work permits, spousal applications, third-country applications, business ownership or any other immigration category. Even the skilled worker class, which most of our US-to-Canada community fell under, is changing all the time. If the Conservatives' new immigration regulations take effect, it will change even more.

I offer a limited amount of advice and encouragement, but I urge everyone to do his or her own research and not rely on what I say.

So many people, though, don't seem to distinguish between the two. It's amazing to me how many people seem willing to base major life decisions on what "someone said," somewhere on the internet. I may be reading them wrong - I hope I am - but it seems as if they don't understand the difference between asking a question on a bulletin board or forum, asking Yahoo Answers, and looking up the information on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website. They seem to think one source is as good as any other: it's someone on the internet.

I think this may be an extension of the "everything is relative" mentality that scoffs at the idea of expertise and doesn't distinguish between fact and opinion. You know: "In my opinion, the world is flat." "Oh the experts say humans descended from apes. That's just a lot of eastern-liberal-latte-drinking-sushi-eating hooey!" "I think milk is a vegetable!"

I'm more than happy to tell people what I know, but when they ask about things completely outside my field of knowledge, and I tell them so, and they seem to want an answer anyway ("Well, in your opinion, would Canada mind if I did this?"), it's a bit frustrating. I always urge them to go look it up themselves.

The really scary part is when they tell me they are looking it up - they're asking me!

war resisters: recent media wrap-up

Bob Rae: Why U.S. War Resisters Deserve Refuge In Canada (Toronto Star)

Harper has allowed Canadian legal system to become an extension of American martial law ... The same government that won't lift a finger for Omar Khadr, that won't raise its voice on behalf of those Canadians on death row in the U.S., acts more and more like a Republican farm team than a sovereign government.

U.S. Soldiers Look To Canada For Asylum And Understanding (Kitchener-Waterloo Record)

Most Canadians Say: Let War Resisters Stay (Northumberland Today)

War resisters -- former U.S. soldiers who have come to this country because they refuse to fight in the Iraq war -- should be allowed to stay in Canada. This is an opinion shared by a majority of Canadians and a majority of our Members of Parliament. So why won't the Harper government listen?

Let The U.S. Soldiers Stay Here (Edmonton Sun, Sault Star)

Canadian Court Reopens Door For U.S. War Resisters (Workers World)

Orillians Rally For U.S. War Resisters (Orillia Packet)

Stop Imminent Deportation Of War Resisters (Rabble.ca)

JOSHUA KEY

Resisters Win One (Now Toronto)

Canada To Rehear Army Deserter's Asylum Bid (AOL)

COREY GLASS

Eleventh Hour Hope For Glass (Torontoist)

To Corey Glass, Pierre Trudeau's Vietnam-era proclamation that "Canada should be a refuge from militarism" must ring a little hollow in 2008.

U.S. War Dodger Wins Last-Minute Deportation Reprieve While Court Ponders Review (CBC, Canadian Press, St. Catharine Standard)

U.S. War Resister Gets To Stay, For Now (Inside Toronto)

US War Deserter Wins Stay Of Deportation In Canada (Hartford (CT) Courant))

U.S. War Resister Avoids Deportation (Ottawa Citizen)

War Dodger Gets Break (Halifax Herald)

Celebrations Planned After Ruling On War Resister (CTV, CBC)

Canada No Longer A Haven For U.S. Deserters (International Herald Tribune)

ROBIN LONG

American War Dodger May Be Gone Monday (Vancouver Province)

Long, who deserted the U.S. military and fled to Canada to avoid being sent to Iraq, could be deported as early as Monday despite a recent non-binding vote by Parliament allowing U.S. soldiers opposed to the war in Iraq to stay in Canada.

United States Army Deserter Arrested At Port Of Entry (Imperial Valley News, Seattlest)

U.S. War Resister Living In B.C. Given Surprise Deportation Order (Vancouver Free Press)

Today (July 8), American war resister Robin Long was told by the Canadian Border Services Agency that he would be deported to the U.S. by as early as Monday (July 14), according to the Council of Canadians.

U.S. Deserter's Incarceration Decried (Globe & Mail)

***

Finally, two negative editorials:

Let Deserters Stand In Line (Vancouver Province)

Canadian anti-war groups and others opposed to the deportation of war resister Robin Long are well-meaning. But, in our view, they are misguided.

AWOL in Canada (Wall Street Journal)

bob rae in toronto star: let them stay!

Bob Rae, Liberal MP and foreign affairs critic, has a great op-ed in today's Star. There is also a negative editorial in The Province, which I'm told is a major BC newspaper. Why not take a few moments and write a reply?

Why U.S. war resisters deserve refuge in Canada

Harper has allowed Canadian legal system to become an extension of American martial law

by Bob Rae

The struggles through Canadian courts and prisons by young American soldiers opposed to the war in Iraq has naturally raised the memory of another time, the arrival in our midst of thousands of young men resisting the draft and Vietnam War.

Forty years ago, American conscription created a lottery that meant a generation – my exact contemporaries – did not have the luxury I had of expressing political opinions without having to disobey the law. Many were able to get their requirement of service deferred. Some enlisted and then deserted, others just came to Canada as visitors and never left.

It was a different time then. Immigrants were not legally barred from applying for landed immigrant status from within Canada, and immigration officials were given much discretion in allowing young men through without asking too many questions about draft status or military service. That is not to say that decisions were taken lightly.

At the time, those coming over as draft dodgers and deserters knew they would not be able to return home without facing arrest. It would be years before a general amnesty would allow that to happen, and it applied just to the draft dodgers; deserters are still arrested if they return.

There was a sense of a deep inner conflict in each decision. Families left behind, parents bewildered, loyalties and values divided, often in ways that proved impossible to resolve.

The Pearson and Trudeau governments kept the border open, despite U.S. objections, and refused to allow Canadian border officials to become agents of American military policy. It strained the relationship – as did public statements by Canadian officials about the war itself – but it did not break it.

The Vietnam generation has made an extraordinary contribution to the life of the country. In every walk of life, in every profession, in every community, Canada is a better place because we decided to become a place of refuge for those seeking a different political home, even those who were defying American military law to do so.

How different life seems today. The young Americans and their families who have come to Canada because of their refusal to obey military orders in Iraq are being given no quarter or refuge by the Harper government. Robin Long is being held in a prison cell in British Columbia. Corey Glass hopes for some solace from a renewed application for refugee status after a judgment of the Federal Court.

What's changed? One argument is that the fact that the U.S., like Canada, now has a volunteer army. There is no draft, no conscription, so young women and men who sign up have no excuse, the argument goes. The war in Iraq was authorized by Congress, and that ends the argument. If you're unhappy with what the army is making you do, tough luck. You joined up, face the music.

The second argument is that after 9/11 we're all in this together. We didn't send troops to Iraq, but we are together in Afghanistan, and the depth of this alliance and common cause is such that we can't provide safe haven any more to war resisters. They're not refugees because they won't face undue harm or persecution for their views, just the consequences of breaking the law.

Yet there's something missing here. As in Vietnam, Canadian and American positions on the war in Iraq are quite different. Canada made it very clear that it did not think there was justification under international law for the invasion. There were no weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein was not an ally of Osama bin Laden. Kofi Annan, the secretary general of the UN at the time, made it clear that the invasion was "illegal."

A soldier who is told to fight faces a conflict of values and loyalties. His president has told him things that he later discovers are quite untrue. His congressman and senator say they were misled, and would not have authorized the invasion had they been given accurate information. He realizes that what he's being asked to do is in no way authorized by international law. Political support for the mission is drying up. Hence the refusal to serve, or even the refusal to follow orders, or the refusal to show up for reserve duty when the call-up comes once again.

Putting things in perspective, the flow across the border – in Vietnam times more than 50,000 strong – is a trickle today. There is no draft, and it is a different time.

But the claim of conscience is as strong today as it was then. The people who are returned will face harassment, opprobrium, a criminal record. Their lives will be changed forever, and not for the better.

There is provision in our system to allow the minister of immigration to exercise discretion "on humanitarian and compassionate grounds" to those even denied refugee status to stay legally in Canada as permanent residents.

Canadian immigration law has changed – people can no longer apply for landing from within the country – but more than that our government's attitude has changed. And here lies the core of the matter. Last month Parliament expressed its view that those resisting a war Canada itself sees as unlawful should be permitted asylum and residence in the country.

But the Harper government takes a different view. Our prisons become an extension of American martial law. The same government that won't lift a finger for Omar Khadr, that won't raise its voice on behalf of those Canadians on death row in the U.S., acts more and more like a Republican farm team than a sovereign government.

The price for this is very high. Young people of conscience, judgment and talent are denied the chance to make Canada their home. We as a country are denied the chance to benefit from their joining us as members of our family. And our own sense of capacity and dignity is diminished once again by a government that is less than what Canadians need and deserve.

The Province piece is here.

Star letters: lettertoed@thestar.ca

Province letters: provletters@png.canwest.com

Letters are more likely to be printed when they are short and factual. Shoot for no more than 200 words.

the global village, part 2

Many moons ago, I posted this amazing video made by a guy who had traveled all over the globe.

James, who is responsible for my seeing that in the first place, recently sent me a follow-up.

I find these videos strangely moving, although I'm hard-pressed to articulate why.

Part of it is seeing all the people of the world - being people, expressing joy. How alike we all are.

And part of it is my crazy hunger to see the world, to go everywhere, and the realistic understanding that I never will. Although I travel as often as I can, I would need three or four lifetimes to even go everywhere on my top must-visit list.

I love my life and I know I am incredibly fortunate. But people like Matt, the guy who made these videos, are living another life I want, the one I didn't choose.

voting with their feet

I want to highlight a new website that's part of a very interesting project. Voting With Their Feet is an oral history that documents the stories of people who have left the United States for political reasons during the past 25 years.

The people behind the project, Victoria Fontan and Pandora Hopkins, are experienced in this kind of research, having conducted projects in Iraq, Norway and Iceland, among other places. Victoria lives in Costa Rica; Pandi, a US citizen, voted with her own feet when she left the US for Mexico. They say:

The purpose of the oral history project we call Voting With Their Feet (VOF) is to conduct, record, collect and publish interviews with emigrants driven from the United States by conscience, persecution, or material necessity. It is a virtually untold story, conflicting as it does with popular perception. The term "American Dream," was first featured in a book published in 1931, The Epic of America; its author, the historian James Truslaw Adams, merely encapsulated a familiar assumption, long-held -- even at the time — both within and without the U.S. Absorbed with mother's milk has been the view of the United States as an exceptional nation, one that has become more powerful, innovative and higher up the evolutionary ladder than any other country on the globe.

The lapse in documentation of emigration away from the U.S. is unfortunate. It is also, we believe, dangerous at a time when the nation's political representatives openly flaunt its military-based economy and imperial ambitions in direct contradiction to progressive ideals that continue to coexist with the dark, ethnocentric side of American exceptionalism.

The project is not a how-do-it manual. Advocacy is not our motive. There is no intention to promote emigration - or to provide practical information for those contemplating a departure from their homeland. Our intention is simply to document the motivations and experiences of this group of emigrants, the people who are considering leaving, have left, and even, in some cases, have decided to return to their native country. In short, as with any true oral history project, VOF is not based on a particular ideology; its parameters are constantly in flux, shifting according to the experiences and insights of the interviewees.

The VOF website is a work-in-progress, but right now there are interview excerpts and a news section, which I've just noticed highlights war resisters! The movement of people from the US to Canada, to escape war and in search of peace, is definitely a sub-category of voting with one's feet.

The website is new, and I'm sure Pandi and Victoria would enjoy receiving some feedback.

rush-hour rally says let them stay!

We had a great turn-out in Toronto yesterday, where a human chain up University Avenue demonstrated support for Robin Long, Corey Glass and all the war resisters in Canada. We estimate about 300-350 people came out, with about 250 there at any given time. Spread out in single file facing the street, all holding signs and placards in the air, that creates a big visual statement.

There was tremendous support from passers-by - many people grabbing signs and joining the line! Drivers stopped at the red light rolled down their windows to take flyers, and people honked car horns in support. Cab drivers seemed particularly excited! As so many cab drivers are immigrants themselves, I wonder if the issue of deportation hits home for them.

Our friend M@ was there, as were Tom and Emilio from Canadian Hope, and Kim_in_TO from My Canada Includes Justice. That made it an extra fun event for me. Thanks, guys!

This Tuesday, July 15, Robin Long will go to court, then we'll wait to learn if his hearing is successful. Given what happened with Corey, I'm optimistic, but then, I'm always optimistic about this. I believe we are going to win.

But as always, I remind myself and all of you: the fight is not over. Not until there's a policy in place that allows US war resisters to remain legally in Canada.

If anyone has reports from any other cities, please feel free to leave a comment or email me.

dear conservative m.p.s

Here's an excellent letter from Steve Clarke, the Liberal candidate for Simcoe North, Ontario, to the Orillia Packet.

Letter to the editor:

The House of Commons passed a motion to recognize conscientious objectors of the illegal war in Iraq and allow them and their families to apply for permanent resident status in Canada. It also called for an end to deportation proceedings against them.

The Stephen Harper government has chosen to ignore the motion, and I would ask my Conservative opponent (Simcoe North MP Bruce Stanton) and his colleagues to reconsider this unprincipled position.

Their refusal to act is egregious in view of the very strong moral claim of these conscientious objectors. The Iraq-U.S. war is not sanctioned by the United Nations. Many people who agreed to one tour of duty are being sent back to Iraq without choice. Some signed up for the National Guard to serve domestically only to be sent to Iraq against their will. Others went willingly to Iraq in the belief they were participating in a noble cause, only to discover that the rhetoric of their government is at odds with reality.

When speaking to another motion passed by the House of Commons in 2005, Harper said, "The prime minister has the moral responsibility to respect the will of the House..." I only ask that the prime minister heed his own words today and respect the will of the House of the House of Commons on this very important motion pertaining to basic human rights.

Five years ago, the Liberal government made the principled decision not to participate in the War in Iraq. Harper was very critical of that decision and made it clear that, if he were prime minister, Canada would have gone to war. Harper got it wrong then, but he can make the right decision now and respect conscientious objectors and their families for making their own, very difficult, principled decisions.

In his very last speech in the House of Commons, our former MP, Paul DeVillers, said there should be no distinction between a person avoiding the draft and the one who refuses to join an unauthorized war. He called for treatment of U.S. war resisters today like that accorded to resisters of the Vietnam War. Paul was right, as are the majority of our elected parliamentarians who supported the recent motion to recognize conscientious objectors of the illegal war in Iraq.

The United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights requires that conscientious objectors be given protection by signatory states. It is time the government did what is right and lived up to this important agreement. It is time the government respected the will of Canadians as expressed by the majority of members in the House of Commons. And it is time the Simcoe North MP and his Conservative colleagues adopted a position on conscientious objectors that is more in line with Canadian values and less beholden to the discredited Bush administration.

Steve Clarke, Federal Liberal candidate for Simcoe North

Thank you Mr. Clarke!

Are you writing a letter today?

the blood on their hands

Many wmtc readers sent me stories about the death of former Army medic Joseph Dwyer. Dwyer is the man pictured in this famous photo, which mainstream news outlets used as a symbol of heroism during the invasion of Iraq.

From Greg Mitchell and AP:

Last week, Dwyer called a local taxi service to take him to the hospital after an apparent overdose, Capt. Floyd Thomas of the Pinehurst Police Department told the Fayetteville Observer. When the driver arrived, Dwyer said he couldn't get to the door, according to a police report.

Police kicked in the door at Dwyer's request, and he was taken by ambulance to a Pinehurst hospital. Thomas said bottles of prescription pills were found near Dwyer when police arrived. The former medic died later the night of June 28, according to authorities.

Dwyer served with the 3rd Squadron of the 7th Cavalry Regiment of Fort Stewart, Ga. He earned the Combat Medical Badge and other military awards.

His mother said the military could have done more to help with post-traumatic stress. "He just couldn't get over the war," Maureen Dwyer said. "He just couldn't do it. Just wasn't Joseph. Joseph never came home."

His wife, Matina, said: "He was just never the same when he came back, because of all the things he saw. ... He tried to seek treatment, but it didn't work."

She told a reporter that she hoped that her husband's death would bring more attention to PTSD issues.

Last week, I was watching a baseball game between the Red Sox and the Yankees. Like many games between these historic arch-rivals, this one was televised nationally in the US, as well as many parts of Canada. It was July 4th weekend, and the players were wearing special star-spangled uniforms and caps. The game-worn gear would later be auctioned off, a fundraiser for a Major League Baseball program called "Welcome Home Veterans". The auction is one of many similar gestures being held at ballparks around the US on July 4 and again on September 11.

The goal of Welcome Back Veterans - which MLB calls an "apolitical initiative" (oh yeah? then why will it be held on September 11th?) - is to help returning veterans make a successful transition back to civilian life. It will raise awareness of PTSD, as well as the alarming rates of unemployment, homelessness, substance abuse and violence among veterans as compared with the general population.

I felt so angry and heartsick when I heard this, I could barely watch the rest of the game.

The war criminals who created this war live in the greatest comfort money can buy. They spend billions upon billions of taxpayers' money to secure the massive profits of a few corporations. They create lies and propaganda to induce people to carry out their cause.

And the government that they've hijacked won't even squeeze out enough money to offer the victims of that war proper treatment and a decent life when they return. It's left to private foundations and charitable organizations to pick up the pieces.

It's sickening.

Those of us of a certain age remember a famous bumpersticker slogan, imagining a time when the Pentagon would need a bake sale to raise money. (It was old even when I saw it.)

And here we are in the 21st Century, and we're holding a fucking televised bake sale to care for our walking wounded.

art adventurers create a subway double-take

Remember the performance art that froze Grand Central Terminal in New York?

The same group, Improv Everywhere, now creates a human mirror on a New York City subway.

I'd love to have seen this! Thanks to James for sending.

u.s. peace activists ask canada to do the right thing

Here's a video from Seattle, one of fourteen vigils held outside Canadian consulates in the US yesterday.

These aren't huge demonstrations, but that doesn't mean they're not effective. They show Canadian officials that if they act on behalf of US war resisters, they have the support of at least part of the US public. They keep the issue in the forefront. They educate passers-by. And of course, these days they continue educating online.

Thanks, as always, to Gerry Condon for sending this, and for his tireless work on behalf of soldiers who say "no".

responses to rosie dimanno's war cry

I didn't link to Rosie DiManno's recent column berating the war resisters and those who support them. She basically said, hey, this is war, you don't like blowing off doors and dragging people away in the middle of the night, bombing innocent civilians, that's too bad, I guess you're not man enough for it.

See for yourself; I'm not far off.

The Star published one letter in favour of DiManno's column, and these three against. Two of the three were written by Campaigners and peace activists. (The third might be, too, I just don't know that guy.)

Rosie DiManno's job description for combat troops ought to be part of the pitch in the recruitment drive for the Canadian Armed Forces. "'A score of young men brandishing weapons ... descending on a sleeping family in the middle of the night, blowing up the front door ...' This is what combat troops do ... That's just a fact of war or counter-insurgency." She has no sympathy for those like American deserter Joshua Key who "... don't have it in them ..." to do what it takes to be a real soldier in a place like Iraq.

The recent history of the conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq demonstrates that many of us, whether Dutch or American or Canadian, have it within us to behave exactly as DiManno would have combat troops do. The questions are at what point counter-insurgency becomes occupation and what occupying forces have to do to control a population. Occupation isn't combat. Whether a soldier confronting that fact deserts or sucks it up and does what everyone else is doing is a decision that has ramifications not only for that soldier but also for the community the soldier calls home.

If a man in that situation decides to come to Canada, he hasn't failed a test. He has passed it.

Jim Maloy, Barrie, Ont.

*

I feel I must comment on Rosie DiManno's column regarding Iraq war resister Joshua Key. She disagrees with Justice Richard Barnes's recent ruling that the Immigration and Refugee Board erred in rejecting Key's claim as a refugee, writing that Barnes was "indict[ing] the entire U.S. military of something just short of war crimes."

Barnes is simply reflecting the majority of world opinion with respect to the war in Iraq. The majority of people all over the planet soundly rejected the war in the run-up to the invasion in 2003, soundly rejected the stated rationale for it (weapons of mass destruction), and endorse former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan's statement that the invasion violated international law.

The large majority of Canadians continue to oppose the war in Iraq as illegal and immoral, and now a solid majority of Canadians support U.S. soldiers who refuse to fight there, according to pollster Angus Reid.

The House of Commons passed a motion on June 3 calling on the government to allow soldiers like Key to stay in Canada. Barnes is in step with Canadians on this issue. DiManno is clearly not.

Giles Hodge, Toronto

*

Five years after it began, the war in Iraq has been a complete disaster. And it remains illegal. A recent poll indicates that 82 per cent of Canadians oppose the Iraq war, with 59 per cent of Americans backing our government's decision to refuse to participate.

Many of the U.S. war resisters seeking refuge in Canada, like Joshua Key, have served in Iraq where they witnessed widespread abuse and human rights violations.

These young men and women show incredible courage for refusing to be a part of it, and should be allowed to stay in Canada. But Rosie DiManno dismisses their accounts, explaining that "this is what combat troops do."

Thankfully, the Geneva Conventions don't share that logic. If only more soldiers like Key had the chance to share their experiences, we might be moved to do more to end the war in Iraq instead of making excuses for it.

James Clark, Toronto

a little more information about corey glass and robin long

Corey and his counsel, the wonderful Alyssa Manning of Parkdale Legal Community Services, have not yet seen the decision in their recent victory, so they don't know the details of why the court decided what it did.

Based on what they do know, Alyssa believes the court recognized that there is new evidence that the Immigration and Refugee Board has not heard, especially concerning what could happen to Corey if he were deported. The key phrase is "irreparable harm".

Now the appeals process will begin, and it's several steps longer than I would have guessed. Corey will need "three yeses".

The first yes will be the Court granting him leave to appeal.

The second yes would be winning that appeal, to have both his Pre-Removal Risk Assessment and Humanitarian and Compassionate Applications re-heard by the IRB. A different IRB officer would then be assigned to the case.

The third yes would be a positive ruling on either the PRRA or the H&C: the IRB granting Corey refugee status.

This could all take quite a while.

* * * *

Robin's case is a maddening one. The IRB ruled against his PRRA, and began the deportation process. Yet they neglected to inform Robin of this. Then the Canadian Border Services Agency arrested him for not complying with the deportation order! Of course, he couldn't comply, because he didn't know anything about it.

It was obviously a set-up. They wanted Robin in custody before they issued his deportation order. That's a violation of his right to due process, among other things.

So Robin is in jail; a hearing is scheduled for next week. His friends say his spirits are as good as they can be, under the circumstances, that he has lots of visitors and support. In fact, support outside the Nelson jailhouse was getting so vocal that Robin had to tell them to pipe down, or he wouldn't be allowed any more visitors.

We can all agitate for the release of Robin Long, but if you live in BC, your help is especially welcome.

Here's a list of events planned for Thursday. Add your voice to the growing chorus: Let Them Stay!

and you ask yourself, how did i get here?

I've just come back from meeting and celebrating with resisters and campaigners. Whoo-hoo!

Many people confessed they thought this would be a very grim meeting: our first deportation. I have been working with the Campaign about a year, but most of my sister and brother Campaigners have been at it four times as long. And in four years, not one resister has been forced to leave Canada. Some have left on their own terms, but there have been no deportations. So the prospect of the first was dreadful.

But he's still here! And he ain't goin' nowhere.

There is no doubt in my mind that all our actions - cumulatively - brought this about. Our phone calls, letters, faxes, emails. Our demonstrations, pickets and speaking events. Our lobbying meetings, our letter-writing rallies. Our blogging, Facebooking, and petitioning. Our letters to newspapers, our contingents marching in parades. All of it worked together.

We showed the Liberals public opinion was on our side, that they wouldn't be hung out to dry if they backed the motion. And that motion passing in the House of Commons in turn showed the courts that they, too, would have support. That there was another point of view besides the Government's, and that point of view is the majority.

Courts are supposed to be apolitical, but in the real world, judges are affected by political climate. And our Campaign - and every single person who contributed to it, in ways large and small - created the climate that made these decisions possible.

Our work is not done. Robin Long is still in jail, and we sure as hell don't want to go through this with every single resister! We need a policy. We need the Government to implement the motion.

Short of that, we'll take a long, drawn-out process, then an election, a Liberal minority win, and we're done! And you know what? It's looking mighty possible.

breaking news: corey glass to stay in canada!!!

We sat on pins and needles all last night and all today, but it was worth it... because Corey Glass will remain in Canada.

Early this afternoon, Corey Glass and his counsel received word that Corey will not be deported to the United States. The deportation has been stayed indefinitely so his applications for appeal can be heard in court.

I don't have details of the decision yet; I'll post them as soon as I do.

But don't change your plans for tomorrow: your action is still needed. As of this writing, War Resister Robin Long remains in a BC jail cell, awaiting deportation. The fate of hundreds of other war resisters in Canada, many with families with young children, is still undecided.

Join us tomorrow night, to celebrate this good news, and to protest deportation of any war resisters.

Prime Minister Harper, CIC Minister Finley: do the right thing. Implement the motion passed by a majority of Parliamentarians on June 3, and create a provision so all the Iraq War resisters can stay.

Details as soon as I have them!

he oughta know

And with a U.S.-sponsored move for new sanctions on Mr. Mugabe's regime before the UN Security Council, Mr. Bush emerged from the meeting to express his concern. "I'm extremely disappointed in the elections, which I labelled a sham election," he said.

globe and mail on robin long deportation order

News of imminent deportation shocks American army deserter

Rod Mickleburgh

July 9, 2008

VANCOUVER -- Just days after a key Federal Court decision in favour of U.S. army deserters trying to stay in Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency is preparing to deport "war resister" Robin Long.

If he is deported, he will be the first of an estimated 200 deserters who have sought refuge in Canada to be returned to the United States, marking an official end to the country's policy of welcoming American draft dodgers and deserters that began during the Vietnam War.

The 25-year-old failed refugee claimant was arrested in Nelson on a deportation warrant on Friday, the same day as deserter Joshua Key successfully appealed the denial of his refugee claim.

Mr. Long remains in jail in the idyllic Interior city, home to many young men who have fled U.S. military service because of the war in Iraq.

"His removal is imminent ...probably within a day or two," border agency lawyer Rick Lengert told a hastily arranged Immigration and Refugee Board hearing yesterday.

The news was a shock to Mr. Long, his supporters and his lawyer, Shepherd Moss, who had been given no warning that he was in danger of being sent back to the United States so quickly.

Mr. Moss served notice that he would seek an emergency, after-hours sitting of the Federal Court to ask for an immediate stay of the deportation, in light of last week's court decision in favour of Mr. Key.

Late yesterday, the border agency agreed to make no move to deport Mr. Long until Monday.

But his supporters were nonetheless outraged by the suddenness of his arrest and near deportation.

The immigration hearing was told that the decision to approve his deportation was made two months ago, but no one on Mr. Long's side was informed until just before the hearing began yesterday afternoon.

"Basically, they're trying to kidnap war resisters and get them into the hands of George Bush," steamed Bob Ages of the Vancouver War Resisters Support Campaign. "This is the closest thing to rendition we've had in this country since Maher Arar. It's outrageous. What are these enforcement people up to?"

Mr. Ages said Immigration Minister Diane Finley should be pressed about the matter, given Friday's pro-resister court decision and last month's vote in Parliament favouring a motion to grant asylum to American deserters.

The House of Commons vote was not binding on the government.

Mr. Long left the army after two years service and arrived in Canada in 2005. He has said he deserted because he did not want to participate in "an illegal war of aggression in Iraq. Morally, I felt I couldn't do that."

His claim for refugee status was rejected.

He was arrested for violating terms of his release from previous custody by failing to notify the border agency of his latest address in Nelson.

Testifying by telephone from his Nelson jail cell, Mr. Long told board panelist Leeanne King that he had been "couch surfing" at various local residences, and didn't realize the seriousness of having to report every time he changed locations.

But Ms. King ordered that he remain in custody. "There is no stay in place. You are removable," she told Mr. Long over the phone. "The department is going to remove you tomorrow, or as soon as possible ... so obviously now your physical whereabouts are even more crucial."

Mr. Long's actions resulted in the forfeit of a $5,000 bond posted by Mr. Ages, guaranteeing that he would abide by the conditions imposed for his release.

But Mr. Ages said he was more concerned about what will happen to the young deserter, who said he joined the army shortly after 9/11 in a burst of patriotism.

dear stockwell day, from alex atamanenko, mp

The following letter was sent by Alex Atamanenko, MP (BC, Southern Interior), to the Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, copied to regional media.

July 8, 2008

Hon. Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6

RE: The detention of Robin Long, U.S. Iraq War Resister

Dear Minister Day:

On Friday, July 4th Robin Long, a U.S. Iraq war resister, was arrested by police in Nelson BC on a Warrant for Removal issued by Canada Border Service Agency July 2nd and faxed to Nelson BC Police on July 4th. He is scheduled for a hearing today.

It is our understanding that CBSA has claimed that Mr. Long did not report for his June 5th monthly check in with CBSA in Kelowna, and that he was "couch surfing" with various friends, and had not reported a change of address.

Mr. Long has been openly residing in Nelson, after coming to Canada rather than deploy to Iraq with his armoured unit. He is well-known to many residents in town, and it is interesting to note that the police had no trouble finding him on Friday. Indeed, according to the information I have, the CBSA does not dispute that he reported in on schedule July 3rd.

Various members of the War Resisters Support Group in Nelson have related accounts of Mr. Long having difficulty having phone calls answered when trying to report to CBSA in Kelowna, and an incident where it took several days for Mr. Long to report in, in person, to CBSA in Kelowna, when this was still required.

Given:

* the July 4th federal court ruling for the Immigration and Refugee Board to re-examine Mr. Joshua Key's refugee claim;

* the House of Commons majority vote to allow U.S. soldiers of conscience to stay in Canada and for your government to stop further deportations, and

* poll after poll showing that a majority of Canadians agree that U.S. Iraq War resisters should be allowed to stay in Canada,

the serving of the Removal Order for Mr. Long on Friday raises additional concerns in this context.

I ask that you stay all deportation orders of war resisters and work with your colleague Immigration Minister Diane Finley to normalize their status in Canada. Most ordinary Canadians believe there are better uses for their tax dollars than to detain and hold war resisters in jail.

Thank you for your consideration of this request. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Alex Atamanenko, MP
BC Southern Interior

We already know what happened at the hearing: Robin received his deportation order.

dear stephen harper, stéphane dion, and everyone else

To:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Copy To:
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Diane Finley
Stéphane Dion, MP
Giles Duceppe, MP
Jack Layton, MP
Albina Guarnieri, MP [my MP]

July 9, 2008

I am writing to urge you to call for the immediate release of Robin Long, an American Iraq war resister now being detained in a prison cell in Nelson, BC.

Yesterday was Robin's son's birthday. This Canadian-born child turned two years old while his father sat in jail, waiting for you to enact the will of Parliament.

In addition, Corey Glass, an Iraq war veteran, is scheduled to be deported tomorrow, July 10. You have neither acted nor commented on his case.

On June 3, by majority vote, the Canadian Parliament called upon the Government to implement a provision allowing Iraq War Resisters and their families to remain in Canada, and to stop all deportation proceedings against them.

A recent poll showed that nearly two out of three Canadians (64%) support this.

In light of the June 3 vote, majority public opinion, and the recent Federal Court decision regarding Joshua Key, you are compelled to act.

On April 13, 2005, in the House of Commons, you said, "The Prime Minister has the moral responsibility to respect the will of the House". Mr. Harper, as the leader of a minority Government, you must respect the will of the House.

Please act immediately to stop these deportations and to give Iraq War resisters asylum in Canada.

Sincerely,
Laura Kaminker
[address]
[phone number]

pm@pm.gc.ca
finley.d@parl.gc.ca
finled1@parl.gc.ca
laytoj@parl.gc.ca
duceppe.g@parl.gc.ca
dion.s@parl.gc.ca
guarnieri.a@parl.gc.ca

* * * *

Write, call, fax today.

breaking news: war resister robin long to be deported on monday

Earlier this week, Iraq War resister Robin Long was arrested on some trumped-up immigration charge. His court hearing was today, and the outcome was not good. Here is a statement from the Vancouver chapter of the War Resisters Support Campaign.

Canadian Border Services plans deportation of US soldier.

Today in Vancouver, the Canadian Border Services Agency told war resister Robin Long that they intend to deport him as early as next Monday. This was a shocking revelation to Mr. Long and his counsel. At what was expected to be a routine detention hearing, it was revealed that a negative decision had been issued on his Pre Removal Risk Assessment in early May but never communicated to them.

Bob Ages of the War Resisters Support Campaign said "This is the closest thing Canada has seen to Extraordinary Rendition since Maher Arar was spirited to Syria. This is a violation of every principle of natural justice."

The War Resisters Support Campaign is calling on Canadian Minister of Immigration Diane Finley and Prime Minister Stephen Harper to intervene immediately to halt this miscarriage of justice. The Canadian people in numerous opinion polls and through the June 3rd vote of the majority of Members of Parliament have clearly expressed their support for Canada providing sanctuary for war resisters. We are confident that the outrage over this action will manifest into even stronger demands for sanctuary for all war resisters.

This must stop! Raise your voices - tell your MPs - tell your neighbours - tell the media - tell Stephen Harper. Canadians want Canada to be a refuge from militarism! Let Them Stay!