U.S. deserters welcome in Canada, eh?

by Barry Weisleder

The Canadian House of Commons voted 137 to 110 on June 3 urging the government to allow U.S. military deserters and their families to remain in Canada as permanent residents instead of deporting them to face possible jail time.

But the motion, moved by New Democrat MP Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina), and backed by the NDP, the Liberal Party and the Bloc Quebecois, and opposed by the governing Conservatives, is non-binding. The Conservative minority government led by Stephen Harper is likely to ignore it.

Meanwhile, 25-year old Corey Glass is supposed to leave Canada voluntarily after the former U.S. national guardsman was rejected as a refugee and ordered out of the country. Another three hundred or more war resisters, some of whom have already done one or two tours of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan before deserting and entering Canada, face a similar fate.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected arguments that the resisters should be allowed to stay because the U.S. wars of occupation are illegal and immoral. Thirty-five years ago, under tremendous pressure from the movement against the war in Vietnam, the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau offered sanctuary to U.S. draft dodgers and deserters. Continued effort by today's movement can have similar results, as shown by the vote in Parliament.

Mega-profits for Big Oil

Petro-Canada, Royal Dutch Shell and BP collectively amassed $17.8 billion in first-quarter profits -- exceeding all expectations as the price of crude oil continued to surge above $135 (U.S.) a barrel.

Profits at the Canadian oil and gas giant were $1.1 billion in the first quarter, or $2.22 a share, up 86 per cent from $590 million a year earlier.

"We're off to a good start for the year, " said Petro-Canada chief executive Ron Brenneman.

And we continue to ask: How much of those profits do you suppose will be dedicated to the development of safe, clean energy alternatives to the burning of fossil fuels and the exacerbation of global warming?

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