I don't understand why we need or should have to follow laws or any legislation at all if it conflicts with our inner anarchist?

Anyone appying for refugee status in Canada in order to remain here has to go before a board to prove their claim. Claiming that you are tired of killing or seeing the killing in Iraq isn't a good enough reason to be a refugee. Claiming that you are being forced to fight in an unjust war might be true but for any governnment agency to accept that the Iraq war is unjust would open up a hornets nest.

Not that there aren't good arguments for such a claim under internaional law. The UN Charter is clear that no country can invade another unless there is an immediate threat. It is clear now that even the fragile evidence for the threat that Iraq posed was based on lies that were used to justify a preconsidered decision. Deposing a tyrant such as Hussein would be legal if carried out under the auspices of an UN resolution be no such resolution was ever passed. Koffi Annan has said that the iraq war was illegal.

The Refugee Board is well aware that to accept a claim for refugee status for deserters based on their claim that they can't fight in a illegal war would cause a huge problem for Canadian-American relations. How would the Canadian govenment respond to such a decision even if most Canadians (and the world) believe it is true.

...for tracking down and killing Al Queda in Afghanistan, right alongside U.S. and our Afghani allies. While we may differ on sanctuary issues, we are together in bringing hell to the terrorists on the Pakistani/Afghani border.

http://geo.international.gc.ca/cip-pic/afghanistan/menu-en.asp

Dear Editor:

Briefly, to Xeynon: some of what you say is true. Canada's treatment of natives, for example, is horrible and a national shame. (On the other hand, the natives are slowly making progress in the courts in getting the treaties that they signed honoured). That being said, I would never want to live in the US. Every time I cross the border, I can't wait to get back to Canada. The image of the US as violent and backwards is, in many ways, absolutely true. And what passes for political dialogue in the US is horrifying. Indeed, even though our present government is Conservative, many of its policies would not be out of place with the Democrats in the US - and I think that is unfortunate on both counts, since it wasn't that long ago that the Conservative Party here would have been far to the left of the Democrats. Canada certainly has its problems but - while it may be somewhat self-righteous to say this - I have no qualms in believing that Canada is a much better country than the US and I hope it stays that way.

Of course, it may not if the Harper government remains in power much longer. It is important to note, however, that even though Canadians voted for Harper, he still only has a minority government. Moreover, in terms of domestic policy, his Conservative government has been forced to moderate its positions on some important issues (such as the environment) because of public pressure. Even after having made all of these changes, public opinion polls show that if an election were held today, the Conservatives would still only win with a minority. To put this in perspective: right now, the government has the support of about 34% of the public. 66% of the public would vote against them.

It is really only in the area of foreign policy that the Harper government has been able to exercise its bizarre ideological leanings. As the article notes, Harper seems to have a strange fascination with American foreign policy and wants to create a mirror-image here in Canada. Again, that generally does not enjoy much support in the country as a whole, but most people don't vote on foreign policy issues.

Finally, Canadian public opinion does seem split on the issue of war deserters for the reasons stated above by others: there is a general sense that if one volunteers for military service, one should not leave when the going gets tough. If a soldier really does believe that his/her service is wrong, then refuse to fight and face the consequences. This attitude is a bit callous,however, given that many American soldiers (like the American public) were fed a line about Iraq and were essentially duped into going to war. Moreover, many Americans enter the military because of their economic circumstances; should they be punished because they were poor and their options limited? So, the issue is more complex than many Canadians realize.

Sincerely,

Shaun Narine

Its interesting what people take from this article. I didn't think the article put the Canadians in a particularly flattering light at all - it seems that the soldiers are getting help from US organizations, and that even leftish Canadian politicians are not particularly supportive.

My limited experience with Canadians [my daughter goes to school there] is that they are quite pro-US, and that the same cliche holds: its Bush they can't stand. Ditto most French people. Why are Americans so defensive when another country is mentioned? Is there a growing suspicion that life isn't all so wonderful in the good old USA, and that just to mention another country brings out defensiveness? How terribly sad.

Sorry about the double post... Regardless of which side of the border you're on I think we can agree that's annoying.

No offence but an American with enough sense to flee a pointless military occupation is still an American. Nice to have as a visitor now and then but not really that great as a neighbour. Stay at home and fight for what you believe in.

How predictable. An article about U.S./Canada relations prompts snide America bashing from smug Canadians. A few points -

1.)Canada hasn't historically treated its aboriginals any better than the U.S. has treated its minorities.

2.)Quebecois and English speaking Canadians don't get along any better than English speaking Americans and Spanish speaking Hispanics. In fact, a significant percentage of Canada's population doesn't even think it should be a unified country.

3.)You elected Stephen Harper, a.k.a. the Canadian George Bush.

Canada does some things better than the U.S. (hockey, drug laws, healthcare, good manners, etc.), but let's not pretend its Shangri-La, okay? It has its problems too.

Now, about the U.S. You think we're a bad neighbor? Well, our countries do share the world's longest undefended border and there hasn't been a war between us in nearly 200 years. I don't know if you've studied your world history but that is utterly unprecedented. Try living next to the USSR, the Roman Empire, the Han Chinese, Nazi Germany, ancient Athens, or any other superpower in history, and I guarantee you'd feel more pain than you do now.

Furthermore, a great deal of your economic prosperity you owe to trade with the U.S., your best students all study here, far more of your citizens move here than the reverse, you import huge quantities of consumer goods and raw materials from the U.S., the reason you haven't historically needed a large military to defend the world's second largest amount of territory is that you always had the luxury of knowing that no one would dare f**k with you for fear of pissing off your rather formidable ally to the south, CAN-CON regulations aside much of your culture is derivative of American culture, etc. Canada wouldn't be nearly as successful as it is without the U.S., and you know it.

Don't get me wrong. I love Canada, many of my best friends are Canadians, and I think I can safely say I know far more about it than 99% of Americans. It's a great country. But one of its major flaws is the self-satisfied, holier-than-thou attitude shared by a certain segment of its population, which is reflected in your post. Americans aren't the only ones capable of being knee-jerk nationalist idiots. The Canadian version can wrap their condescension in the Maple Leaf and shove it up their *sses for what this American cares.