TORONTO, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- The Canadian opposition Liberal Party is calling for a halt to next week's deportation of a U.S. Army deserter and his family.
At a Toronto news conference Thursday, Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic Bob Rae was flanked by Jeremy Hinzman, who, along with his wife and two children were ordered deported in August.
Rae appealed to the Conservative government to stop the order, which has a Tuesday deadline.
"Canada accepted over 50,000 people during the Vietnam War and Canada has benefited greatly from them," Rae said. "Jeremy will make a great Canadian and it would be great if he and his family could stay in Canada."
Hinzman served with the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan in a non-combat role as a conscientious objector. When he learned his unit was going to Iraq in 2004, he took his wife and child to the Toronto area.
On July 15, the Canadian government deported U.S. war resister Robin Long. He was sentenced in August in Denver to 15 months in military prison for desertion.
