Victory for U.S. war resisters in Canada

The War Resisters Support Campaign (WRSC) in Canada scored a victory Dec. 5 when the Parliament’s Committee on Citizenship and Immigration passed a motion that would grant U.S. war resisters the right to stay legally. All three parties on the committee that are in opposition to the governing Conservative Party—an ally of George Bush—united to pass the motion.

Resister Phil McDermott and his partner, Jamine Aponte.

The motion still needs to pass in the full Parliament.

“This motion is a very important step forward,” the WRSC said, “after the Supreme Court ruled on Nov. 15 that it would not hear the appeals of U.S. war resisters in their refugee claims. It shows a willingness of the opposition parties in Canada’s Parliament to come together to ensure that none of these resisters is returned to the U.S., where they face court-martials, incarceration and possible deployment to Iraq.”

The victory followed rallies in eight cities across Canada and an intensive WRSC lobbying effort. It built on a national anti-war demonstration in Ottawa, Canada’s capital, in August, at which Iraq war veteran and former Sgt. Phil McDowell was a featured speaker. McDowell told the demonstrators he refused to report for a second tour in Iraq after serving there for a year in 2004-5, and determined that the war was immoral and illegal. He called on the audience to press the government to say no to Bush and yes to U.S. war resisters.

McDowell took the same message to the Parliamentary Committee, telling the members about numerous GIs who refused to fight in Iraq, did prison time and then received bad conduct discharges—a permanent felony record.

Olivia Chow, a close friend of the War Resister Support Campaign, had introduced the motion. Chow represents a Toronto neighborhood that is home to the WRSC office. Following the committee vote, Chow said: “Canadians said no to George Bush’s illegal invasion of Iraq. Now Canadians want Parliament to let the war resisters stay in Canada.”

As the New Democratic Party’s main spokesperson on immigration, Chow is also leading a significant move that would have Canada buck the tide of anti-immigrant hysteria that has gripped right-wing and ruling class elements in the U.S. and some European countries.

While celebrating this important victory, the WRSC said, “There is still much work to be done to ensure that this motion translates into real protection for war resisters.”

Parliament closes Dec. 13 for the holiday break, which lasts until early February. The WRSC is calling a pan-Canadian mobilization on Jan. 26 to ensure that deportation proceedings against U.S. war resisters currently in Canada cease immediately; and that the full Parliament passes a law ensuring that U.S. war resisters refusing to fight in Iraq can stay in Canada and become legal residents.

“The best way to think of it,” said one WRSC member, “is as a stepping stone or a springboard. Just one victory—with the chance for more.” The struggle continues.