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From Wikipedia:
Starting in 1965, Canada became a choice haven for American draft dodgers and deserters. Because they were not formally classified as refugees but were admitted as immigrants, there is no official estimate of how many draft dodgers and deserters were admitted to Canada during the Vietnam War. One informed estimate puts their number between 30,000 and 40,000.[7] Whether or not this estimate is accurate, the fact remains that emigration from the United States was high as long as America was involved militarily in the war and maintained compulsory military service; in 1971 and 1972 Canada received more immigrants from the United States than from any other country.[7]
Today, from the AP via Military.com:
TORONTO - The first female soldier to flee the U.S. military for Canada to avoid the war in Iraq has been ordered deported.
Michelle Robidoux, a spokeswoman for the War Resisters Support Campaign, said Thursday that Citizenship and Immigration Canada has ordered Kimberly Rivera to leave the country by Sept. 20.
The 30-year-old Army private served in Iraq in 2006. She said she became disillusioned with the mission. She crossed the border into Canada while on leave in February 2007 after she was ordered to serve another tour there.
She lives in Toronto with her husband and three children. The youngest was born in Canada.
Discuss among yourselves.
9 comments:
She evdently sees the military as a great job as long as she doesn't have to do any of that "military" stuff. She didn't flee to Canada during her dwell time, only when she got orders to do her job.
It is hard to take seriously the asylum claims of people who are just hiding from the consequences of their own choices. Also, as a woman, she is free to quit themilitary any time she likes by claiming child care hardship. But then, she wouldn't get her subsidized daycare, free healthcare, housing and a job that gives her plenty pof time off just because she is a mom.
. Also, as a woman, she is free to quit themilitary any time she likes by claiming child care hardship.
Yeah, I was trying to figure that one out myself. Why did she need to go to Canada instead of just resign?
But that wasn't really where I was was headed with this.
I have no use for people who join the military for the free stuff and then discover a "conscience" when they have to fight. I don't know how often this happened in the more distant past, but I've been watching it since I was overseas with the Navy in the Gulf War in 1991 and it disgusts me. I hope they throw her in the stockade for a while before her dishonorable discharge kicks in.
The AP was short on the specifics of how much free stuff she got. Nor did it mention a conscience. The simplest explanation is that she had seen the war and didn't want a part of it anymore. Which I kind of get.
But . . . the post is supposed to be about Canada.
What do the powers-that-be in Canada say? If it represents a shift in policy since the early 70's then that isn't really a surprise...but what of the others who fled OEF/OIF there?
HP: Well, it was a surprise to me, and a pretty dramatic turnaround. And it can't really be blamed on Obama working his voodoo on wolly-minded Canadians; the first such deportation was in 2008. So I'm curious why the policies of the 1970s have changed.
So I'm curious why the policies of the 1970s have changed.
What? Because Stephen Harper rules, that's why.
Here in America, it would be unthinkable to expect a change in immigration and refugee policy as a function of a mere change in government. Do explain!
I don't know, man... I don't have the energy tonight to engage in deep thought. Suffice it to say that Foseti-and-Moldbug-style theories of government notwithstanding, IMHO the Harper gov't has indeed managed to change policy.
If you want more, it'll have to wait.
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