[R-G] Another U.S. [resistor] to be deported

[Anthony Fenton]

Another U.S. deserter to be deported
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/514012

Oct 08, 2008 11:45 AM
Paola Loriggio
Staff Reporter

Another American deserter has been ordered to leave Canada.

Former Sgt. Patrick Hart was told this morning he and his family will  
be deported to the U.S. on Oct. 30, Michelle Robidoux of the War  
Resisters Support Campaign said this morning. The group is lobbying  
federal officials to grant deserters safe haven in Canada.

Hart is asking officials to defer his deportation until Jan. 1,  
Robidoux said in a phone interview from the border, where she  
accompanied the sergeant for his ruling.

"He's got a son in Grade 1 who just started school," she said. "He  
wants him to finish the term."

Hart served nine years in the U.S. military and took part in Operation  
Iraqi Freedom. On the verge of a second deployment in Iraq, the  
sergeant decided he couldn't continue to take part in "an illegal and  
unwarranted military occupation," according to a statement by the war  
resisters group.

He and his wife, Jill, and son, Rian, moved to Toronto in 2005.

War resisters Corey Glass and Jeremy Hinzman also lost their bids to  
stay in the country earlier this year, though federal court stayed  
their deportation orders until it decides whether to grant them an  
appeal. The court already decided to allow Glass to contest the  
decision; it is expected to rule on Hinzman's case soon.

The War Resisters Support Campaign will hold a rally tomorrow at 4:30  
p.m. at Queen St. and University Ave. to show support for the Hart  
family and other Iraq war resisters.