Peace activists denied entry to try again

KAREN MATTHEWS
Globe and Mail
Wednesday, October 24, 2007

NEW YORK — U.S. anti-Iraq war activists Ann Wright and Medea Benjamin were outraged when they learned they were denied entry to Canada because their names were on an FBI crime database meant to track potential terrorists, fugitives and violent felons.

They were told that they would have to apply for “criminal rehabilitation” and pay $200 if they ever wanted to visit again.

Now the two peace activists say they will try again to enter Canada on Thursday.

The activists and their supporters presented petitions at Canadian consulates in several U.S. cities on Tuesday demanding that Canada, a country that welcomed American draft resisters during the Vietnam War, reverse the policy that is keeping foes of the Iraq war from visiting there.

“The Bush administration has convinced the Canadian government to do its dirty work, to deny entry to people who are dissenting against Bush administration policies,” said Ms. Wright, a retired U.S. Army colonel and diplomat who was turned back at the border with Benjamin, a member of the anti-war group Code Pink.

Ms. Wright gave petitions that she said were signed by 15,000 people to an official at the Canadian consulate in Manhattan on Tuesday. Activists left copies of the petitions at Canadian consulates in Washington, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles as well.

The two women walked into Canada at Niagara Falls on Oct. 3 and were turned back.

Ms. Wright said the policy appears to be new, as she has travelled to Canada twice in recent years without incident.

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