War resister has lost all hope to stay in Canada

A volunteer with the War Resisters Support Campaign said that despite a last-moment effort to stay in Canada, Jeremy Hinzman, a US war deserter, was packing his bags on Sunday and preparing to be deported as early as Wednesday.

On Monday, in his last bid to stay in Canada, Hinzman will ask a Federal Court justice to delay his deportation so that he can appeal the decision of the court.

However, Michelle Robidoux, a spokeswoman with the group’s Toronto chapter, said that it is unlikely that the 29-year-old will be granted the leave.

Robidoux said that Jeremy is not available because he is actually busy with his family, and is trying to prepare for what they predict as the implementation of his deportation. So, she said, he is not able to comment on the issue.

Immigration Minister Diane Finley said in an interview that if the court denies Hinzman’s final request on Sunday, then the government will not intervene in the issue.

Robidoux said that earlier in the day, more than 100 protesters traveled to the southern Ontario constituency office of Finley, to request her to stop the deportation. Finley said that Canada is known to have one of the fairest and most comprehensive refugee systems throughout the world.

Finley said that if people go through the process in Canada and exhaust all legal avenues available to them, then she expects them to respect the law of Canada and leave the country without much argument, when they are asked to do so.

Hinzman, who is married and has two children, a six-year-old boy in Grade 1 and an eight-year-old daughter born in Toronto, left the US army after his status as a conscientious objector was denied. Following this, he fled to Canada in the year 2004, with his wife and son.

Bob Rae, the Liberal foreign affairs critic, spoke to Hinzman on Thursday, at a Toronto news conference and said that his party is committed towards keeping the American war deserters in Canada and they will make efforts to ensure that.

In August, Hinzman, his wife, son and daughter were ordered by the Canadian Border Services to leave Canada by September 23. The order came after Citizenship and Immigration denied two of his applications to stay in Canada. One application was made under the pre-removal risk program and the other was made under humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

US war deserters who are deported can face penalty including criminal charges.