Actually, let me put myself in their shoes for a moment:
If I were a Canadian soldier given an illegal command, I'd:
1. Ascertain that the command is in fact illegal in accordance with either national or international laws,
2. Disobey the command and give my reasons why,
3. Ask for alternative service,
4. If denied alternative service, take the matter to a court martial or a civilian court,
5. or, if I should suspect the integrity of either court for any reason, then to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Simply put these soldiers are saying the war is illegal and that dog just ain't hunting down here.
6. Should I be blocked from from option 5 above, then and only then would I consider defecting, unless I felt my life was at risk if I should try to contact the ICJ from within my own country, in which case I'd defect not to immigrate, but in the hopes that the host country could send me to the Hague to fight it out at the top.
The Hague isn't the top of anything in my opinion.
While I won't say all deserters have no valid reason, I do think while they should be given a chance, their claims need to be challenged to the fullest. And if they pass the test, then accepted; otherwise not.
They all have reasons and in their minds they are valid. In the minds of others they are valid...in the minds of others they are not. Some soldiers just become pains in the a**es and get the boot without going to Canada. It happens all the time.
To be honest... Canada got the dumbest of them all. Sure it makes a nice story but there are so many other ways to get out of the military and going to Canada and making a spectacle of themselves was the most foolish idea.
I tried finding an article of an Army deserter who said going to Canada was a dumb idea and was trying to discourage other would-be deseters from doing the same.