Ella Does Squamish

WASHINGTON - October 3 – Two well-respected US peace activists, CODEPINK and Global Exchange cofounder Medea Benjamin and
retired Colonel and diplomat Ann Wright, were denied entry into Canada today (Wednesday, October 3). The two women were headed to Toronto to discuss peace and security issues at the invitation of the Toronto Stop the War Coalition.

At the Buffalo-Niagara Falls Bridge they were detained, questioned and denied entry. They will hold a
press conference on Thursday afternoon in front of the Canadian Embassy in Washington DC to ask the Canadian government to reverse
its policy of barring peaceful protesters.

The women were questioned at Canadian customs about their participation in anti-war efforts and informed that they
had an FBI file indicating they had been arrested in acts of non-violent civil disobedience.

Press Conference:
WHEN: Thursday, October 4th at 1pm
WHERE: Canadian Embassy, 501 Pennsylvania Ave NW,
Washington DC

"In my case, the border guard pulled up a file showing
that I had been arrested at the US Mission to the UN where, on
International Women’s Day, a group of us had tried to deliver a peace petition
signed by 152,000 women around the world," says Benjamin. "For
this, the Canadians labeled me a criminal and refused to allow me
in the country."

"The FBI’s placing of peace activists on an
international criminal database is blatant political intimidation of US
citizens opposed to Bush administration policies," says Colonel
Wright, who was also Deputy US Ambassador in four countries. "The
Canadian government should certainly not accept this FBI database as the
criteria for entering the country."

Both Wright and Benjamin plan to request their files from the FBI through the Freedom of Information Act
and demand that arrests for peaceful, non-violent actions be expunged from international records. "It’s outrageous that Canada is
turning away peacemakers protesting a war that does not have the support of either US or Canadian citizens," says Benjamin.

"In the past, Canada has always welcomed peace activists with open arms. This new
policy, obviously a creature of the Bush administration, is
shocking and we in the US and Canada must insist that it be overturned. Four
members of the Canadian Parliament–Peggy Nash, Libby Davies, Paul
Dewar and Peter Julian– expressed outrage that the peace activists
were barred from Canada and vow to change this policy.

ED - Harper’s NEW government in action!  Glad to see that Paul Dewar stepped up to the plate but what about Jack Layton and other progressives?