(The following article is from the September 16-30, 2009, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

In October, George W. Bush, Tony Blair and Dick Cheney, all accused of horrifying war crimes and crimes against humanity, plan to visit Canada. Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act each of these people could barred from the country.

     On October 22, Bush will be at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth in Montreal, Quebec, to deliver a lunch-time speech at an invitation-only event.

     Tony Blair will be the keynote speaker on October 6 during the Surrey Regional Economic Summit, taking place at the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel in Surrey, BC. Blair was invited by Dianne Watts, mayor of Surrey.

     Dick Cheney is booked for a week of fishing at the Silver Hilton Lodge on the Babine River near Smithers, BC, from October 8 to 15.

     The group Lawyers Against War notes that by ratifying the Convention against Torture and the Rome Statue for an International Court, Canada agreed not only to make the torture and other war crimes and crimes against humanity crimes under Canadian law but also to participate in acting effectively to prevent and punish these crimes wherever they occur.

     To ensure Canada's ability to fulfill these duties, Parliament has passed laws enabling Canada to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity wherever the crimes occurred and whatever the nationality of the suspected perpetrators and the victims (e.g. Criminal Code, torture provisions and the Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act.) Under the Convention against Torture, when a person suspected of any involvement in torture enters Canada, Canada has a duty to either prosecute that person or extradite him to a state that is willing and able to prosecute.

     Parliament has also passed laws to ensure that Canada will not allow people suspected of war crimes and/or crimes against humanity and/or gross human rights abuses to enter Canada or otherwise provide a safe haven, even temporarily, for people suspected of any involvement in carrying out or acquiescing to war crimes, crimes against humanity or other gross human rights abuses. (e.g. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act)

     However, the federal cabinet ministers responsible are not enforcing these laws. In spite of protests, G.W. Bush was allowed entry in Canada in March and May 2009, and Colin Powell was allowed entry in June 2008.

     Readers are encouraged to write to Members of Parliament asking that Canadian Border Services Agency issue a cross-Canada directive to all entry points ordering that G.W. Bush, Tony Blair and Dick Cheney be barred from Canada and, if found in Canada, be arrested and dealt with according to the law.