You may remember, back in May, I wrote about my personal experience as a war resister and asked you to support American war resisters here in Canada. With your help, Bill C-440 (the war resisters bill) passed first reading in the House of Commons. On September 27, it is scheduled for second reading. Please help it succeed again!
If your Member of Parliament is Liberal, NDP or Bloc please take a moment now to urge them to support Bill C-440! The three opposition parties all supported the previously passed motions, but with the minority situation in Parliament every single vote counts.
Please take a moment and phone your MP to ask that they vote in favour of the Bill. You can also use this online form to send an email to your Member of Parliament. Phone calls and emails really do make a difference.
Here are points that you could raise when you contact your MP:
- • Say that you are a constituent and you are asking them to vote in support of Bill C-440, the Iraq War resisters bill. The crucial vote on Second Reading is expected the week of September 27th.
- • The bill will put into effect the two motions previously passed by Parliament in 2008 and 2009.
- • The Conservative minority government has refused to implement those motions which were supported by all three opposition parties.
- • Iraq war resisters are facing deportation at the hands of the Harper government. Two have already been deported and sentenced to long jail terms.
- • Polls indicate that two-thirds of Canadians support Canada allowing Iraq war resisters to stay in this country.
To find the contact information for your MP, go to the House of Commons search page and enter your postal code.
If you're calling your MP, it would have the greatest impact if you could call both the constituency office and your MP's Ottawa office.