Canada should welcome U.S. deserters, Layton says
May 5, 2006. 01:00 AM
BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH
OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA—American deserters dodging military duty in Iraq share Canadian values and should be welcomed in this country, NDP Leader Jack Layton says.
"It makes a lot of sense to welcome these young people, recognize that they've taken a position that's exactly the same position that Canadians took," he said yesterday. "It would be inappropriate to send them back in my view ... We're glad they've chosen our country."
Layton urged the Conservative government to grant sanctuary to young soldiers, noting Canada became a safe haven for Americans seeking to avoid the Vietnam draft more than 30 years ago.
"We should be looking at it," he said. "These young people are courageous individuals. They've made a decision of conscience."
Layton denied that it would upset ties with the U.S. if Canada suddenly became a place of refuge for those fleeing that country's unpopular war.
"There are tens of thousands of people and their families now all across our country who came to us in an earlier period around the Vietnam War. I don't think that disrupted relations between the two countries."
His comments followed an Ottawa visit by Cindy Sheehan, who has become an outspoken anti-war campaigner after the death of her son Casey in Iraq. She used a Parliament Hill news conference yesterday to urge Canada to offer sanctuary to U.S. deserters.
When Casey expressed his misgivings about fighting in Iraq before his deployment, Sheehan offered to drive him to Canada. He was in Iraq five days before being killed in April 2004.
Responding to Sheehan's pitch yesterday, Immigration Minister Monte Solberg told reporters: "If Mrs. Sheehan has a bone to pick with the U.S. administration about the war in Iraq she should take that to Washington. It'll be Canadians who decide Canadian immigration policy."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...922&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467
May 5, 2006. 01:00 AM
BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH
OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA—American deserters dodging military duty in Iraq share Canadian values and should be welcomed in this country, NDP Leader Jack Layton says.
"It makes a lot of sense to welcome these young people, recognize that they've taken a position that's exactly the same position that Canadians took," he said yesterday. "It would be inappropriate to send them back in my view ... We're glad they've chosen our country."
Layton urged the Conservative government to grant sanctuary to young soldiers, noting Canada became a safe haven for Americans seeking to avoid the Vietnam draft more than 30 years ago.
"We should be looking at it," he said. "These young people are courageous individuals. They've made a decision of conscience."
Layton denied that it would upset ties with the U.S. if Canada suddenly became a place of refuge for those fleeing that country's unpopular war.
"There are tens of thousands of people and their families now all across our country who came to us in an earlier period around the Vietnam War. I don't think that disrupted relations between the two countries."
His comments followed an Ottawa visit by Cindy Sheehan, who has become an outspoken anti-war campaigner after the death of her son Casey in Iraq. She used a Parliament Hill news conference yesterday to urge Canada to offer sanctuary to U.S. deserters.
When Casey expressed his misgivings about fighting in Iraq before his deployment, Sheehan offered to drive him to Canada. He was in Iraq five days before being killed in April 2004.
Responding to Sheehan's pitch yesterday, Immigration Minister Monte Solberg told reporters: "If Mrs. Sheehan has a bone to pick with the U.S. administration about the war in Iraq she should take that to Washington. It'll be Canadians who decide Canadian immigration policy."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...922&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467