EON

Majority Of House Of Commons Vote To Allow Permanent Stay

Ottawa- Those citizens of the United States who have fled and sought refuge in Canada to escape their voluntary enlistment duties in the Iraq War have been awarded at least a temporary victory.

The majority of the Canadian House of Commons voted on a non-binding motion to allow deserters to stay permanently in Canada.

The NDP part put forth the motion, which was voted against by the Tory party MP’s.

The Tory’s were outvoted by the other three opposition parties, 137-110 in the vote on Tuesday held in the House of Commons.

“There is a lot of support by ordinary citizens to allow U.S. war deserters the right to stay in Canada,” said Olivia Chow.

Ms. Chow is a Toronto New Democrat MP who moved the motion on the floor of the House of Commons, and who actively campaigns in support of allowing deserters to remain in Canada.

War Resisters Support, a Toronto Canada based organization says that as many as 200 American soldiers have deserted and traveled to Canada to escape prosecution and to avoid being assigned to Iraq.

The spokesman for War Resisters Support remarked “We consider this a victory for our cause,” said Lee Zaslofsky.

Lee Zaslofsky came to Canada as a Vietnam War deserter in 1970, and has remained in Canada ever since.