"With the United States military again engaged in immoral and unjust imperial adventures overseas, Canada is becoming home to many resisters who are resisting service in the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

• Brave Hart

• Soldiers of Misfortune

• Conscientious Objectors: US War Resisters in Canada

It’s a well known fact that in the Vietnam era, many GI’s and would-be GI’s found refuge from the prospect of going to or returning to the Vietnam War in Canada. Whole communities and support systems sprung up around these American ex-pats, and the remnants of these communities are still present today. It is estimated that more than 20,000 American “draft-dodgers” and 12,000 Army deserters found refuge in Canada during the years 1965 to 1973.

With the United States military again engaged in immoral and unjust imperial adventures overseas, Canada is becoming home to many resisters who are resisting service in the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The War Resisters Support Campaign, a group started by organizations and individuals in Canada which calls on the Canadian government to provide sanctuary for U.S. resisters regardless of their political refugee status, highlight on their website 9 men who have become the public face of the current resistance community in Canada.

It is unknown how many objectors there are in Canada who have not made themselves public, just as it is unknown how many “underground” resisting and AWOL military personnel there are in the U.S.

What is known is that the men and women who resist illegal war and occupation have a growing base of support among the citizenry of the U.S. and Canada. As we build awareness of this issue in the U.S. and pressure the U.S. government to stop the wars, we can urge the Canadian government to again become the “refuge from militarism” that is was in the 60’s and 70’s.