Get on side.

Remind Stephen Harper that we live in a democracy! A decisive majority believes that American Iraq-war resisters should be allowed to stay in Canada. A majority in the House of Commons voted to allow them to stay as well. And Harper said himself (on April 13, 2005), "The Prime Minister has the moral responsibility to respect the will of the House."

So why has Harper not acted on his parliamentary obligations? Why is he allowing war resisters to be deported? Why is he acting in defiance of Canadian democratic policy and tradition?

If you're a fan of Harper, you're probably not reading this anyway. If you're not, you're probably already aware that Harper is a Bush wanna-be (way to pick a role model, Steve!) without a compassionate bone in his body. Either way, if you can answer the above questions, let me know. My guess is that he knows he's already well on his way to becoming the most unpopular PM in Canadian history and that nothing short of a miracle will reverse that, so he might as well be true to his heart - or lack thereof.

If you want to make a difference during his conservative reign, if you want to protest our lack of democracy, even if you just want to call Harper on being an asshole - there's no better time to protest than now. This week is a week of action, in which people will be calling and emailing politicians and making donations to the war resisters campaign (legal fees are mounting). Don't allow Harper to deport any more war resisters. Send an email, donate $10, do something. There's so much bad news these days; this is one way in which you can make a positive difference.


Weekly calendar of events (Thursday's is my own addition):

Monday, March 16
Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Copy this text to email different members of Parliament (see Tuesday).

Tuesday, March 17
Call Immigration Minister Jason Kenney to demand he stop the deportation of the Rivera family: 613-954-1064 and 613-992-2235
Email:
minister@cic.gc.ca
kenney.j@parl.gc.ca
Don't forget to cc the opposition critics:
bevilacqua.m@parl.gc.ca
chow.o@parl.gc.ca
st-cyr.t@parl.gc.ca

Wednesday, March 18
Distribute leaflets (available at resisters.ca).

In Toronto: War resister Matt Lowell's federal court hearing to request leave to appeal the negative decision in his H&C application. Join us for a morning vigil and to observe the hearing if you can. Meet in front of 180 Queen Street West.
8:30 am vigil
9:30 am hearing

In London: protest Citizenship and Immigration Minister, Jason Kenney, 4:00 pm.

Thursday, March 19
Donate to the war resisters' legal defense. (This link is good until March 25; after March 25, go to resisters.ca to make a donation.) Donations will be needed at least until Harper does the right thing and allows the resisters to stay.

Friday, March 20
Meet with your local Member of Parliament and ask them what they are doing to defend Canadian democracy and stop the deportation of the Rivera family.

For other local actions, go to resisters.ca.

As always, with the war resisters updates, thanks to WMTC for the event info.