London War Resister Support Group

Federal Immigration Critics call for war resisters to stay
In a joint letter to Minister of Immigration Jason Kenney, the three opposition Immigration Critics urged the government to respect the direction of the House of Commons and cease any removal proceedings against U.S. Iraq war resisters.

As Parliament rose for the summer, the critics reminded the government that the House has passed a motion twice in support of war resisters and called on the governmento not use the summer recess to disregard the expressed will of Parliament.
For The Full Letter Click on the Link below.

Iraq War Resister Kim Rivera and her family (including her Canadian infant daughter Katie) are being ordered DEPORTED FROM CANADA. After a March 5 court decision, the Rivera family will receive an official deportation date within the next few days from the Immigration Dept, to be carried out by the Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA). The Riveras’ had requested a stay to their deportation at least until their children could finish school in June, but this unfortunately is not to be.

On February 12, 2009, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration again passed a motion calling on the Government of Canada to immediately stop the deportation of all U.S. Iraq War resisters and their immediate family members. The motion was moved by NDP Immigration Critic Olivia Chow and supported by all opposition party members in the Committee.

The Harper government has ignored Canadians and Parliament who support U.S. Iraq war resisters and deported three soldiers to face court martial and jail for their opposition to Bush's illegal and immoral war.

The Hart, Rivera and Hinzman/Nguyen families are all threatened with deportation. Canadians and our Parliament want the Conservative minority to let them stay:

Cliff turned himself in today at Ft. Stewart. He is in good spirits and is currently in a unit on post. He is restricted to post but is not otherwise under arrest at this time. We hope to know more from the Army in the next week or so on how they plan to handle this case.

If you want to write Cliff, you can do so at the following address:

Cliff Cornell
c/o Courage to Resist
484 Lake Park Ave #41
Oakland CA 94610.

CTR will forward these letters as soon as possible, and we'll post a direct mailing address for Cliff when one becomes available. Please visit:

The shutdown of Parliament by Stephen Harper will have a negative effect
on US Iraq War resisters in Canada. It will now be impossible for the
House of Commons to consider any action that might prevent the imminent
deportation of war resisters.

The Harper Government has ignored the will of Parliament as expressed on
June 3 by a vote of 137-110, that the war resisters be allowed to apply
for Permaent resident status from inside canada, and that all
deportation proceedings against them be stropped. Rather, it has been

Inspired by U.S. war resisters' personal accounts of why they refused to serve in Iraq, internationally-acclaimed Lionel Lodge (Definitely Schrägged, The Rock Quartet Live in Vienna) composed this original song, I'm Putting Down my Gun Now, recorded it with his London-based band The Dodeldogs and donated it to the LWRSG to help support war resisters. The money generated by the sales of this recording contributes directly to the London War Resisters Support Group's work helping war resisters through the life-changing decisions they made when their conscience would no longer allow them to be part of this war. Read more information and download songs here http://www.londonresisters.ca/node/93