It saddens me how heartless our nation has become under the leadership of the Harper Conservatives. And it’s not that the Liberals were a whole lot better, but dammit, a few of them had hearts. And, I like to think a few still do have hearts and that all Opposition MPs in Ottawa will do their damnedest to ensure that Corey Glass is not deported to the fascist and war-mongering USA.
Thanks to World Report for bringing this to my attention.
Iraq war resister faces deportation from Canada
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TORONTO, May 21 /CNW/ – US Iraq war resister Corey Glass was told today
that his application to stay in Canada has been rejected and he now faces
deportation.Glass, 25, came to Canada in August 2006 after serving in Iraq as a
Military Intelligence Sergeant.“What I saw in Iraq convinced me that the war is illegal and immoral. I
could not in good conscience continue to take part in it,” said Glass. “I came
here because Canada did not join the Iraq War.“Also, I knew Canada had welcomed many Americans during the Vietnam War,”
It is estimated that several hundred Iraq War resisters are currently in
Canada, many of them living underground.“Corey Glass would be the first Iraq War resister to be deported from
Canada. He would face imprisonment and severe penalties in the US,” said Lee
Zaslofsky, coordinator of the War Resisters Support Campaign and a Vietnam War
resister. “This goes against Canada’s tradition of welcoming Americans who
disagree with policies like slavery and the Vietnam War.”On December 6, 2007, the Standing Committee on Citizenship and
Immigration called on the Canadian Government to “immediately implement a
program to allow conscientious objectors and their immediate family members to
apply for permanent resident status and remain in Canada; and the government
should immediately cease any removal or deportation actions against such
individuals.”“The Government should implement that recommendation immediately,” said
author Lawrence Hill. “Corey Glass had the courage to listen to his
conscience. He is working hard to build a new life in this country. He should
be allowed to stay.”“We must not forget that the invasion of Iraq was a war justified only by
lies, greed and stupidity for which permission was not sought nor granted to
the Bush administration by the United Nations,” said Alexandre Trudeau, son of
Pierre Elliott Trudeau and director of the documentary film Embedded In
Baghdad.“This outlaw war has ravaged the Iraqi landscape, destroyed tens of
thousands of lives and sorely sapped the American treasury all while filling
the coffers of profiteers,” he said.“Those Americans who served in Iraq, and have come to Canada to avoid
being pressed into further participation in the indignities of the American
occupation there, are brave men and women of principle who should be given a
chance to become landed in Canada. Like many Vietnam draft dodgers before
them, their heightened sense of morality and truth can only be a benefit to
our nation.”A community forum on the plight of US war resisters in Canada will be
held tonight, May 21, at 7 p.m. at Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Avenue (at St.
George) in Toronto.The event will be moderated by CBC radio host Andy Barrie and will
feature US war resisters Joshua Key, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass and others.For further information: Lee Zaslofsky, (416) 598-1222; Michelle
Robidoux, (416) 856-5008
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