let them stay week: a round-up

People all over Canada helped make Let Them Stay Week a tremendous success.

The offices of Stephen Harper and Jason Kenney were flooded with phone calls, from both Canadians and USians.

Hundreds of people wrote to their Members of Parliament.

Letters denouncing the deportations and supporting war resisters appeared in newspapers from coast to coast to coast.

In towns and cities all over Canada, people circulated petitions, handed out leaflets, held vigils and rallies, and gathered in public meetings to support the war resisters.

In many towns, people met with their MPs to discuss the issue.

The list of events on the War Resisters Support Campaign website is only a very partial listing of all the events and activities that took place.

And we're not finished yet. Tomorrow, when the MPs return to Parliament, they'll be greeted by a full-page ad in the Hill Times, the newspaper they all see daily, signed by many prominent Canadians in support of allowing war resisters to stay in Canada. Not to mention demonstrators...

It's making a difference.

The coming week is crucial. We are waiting to hear if Patrick Hart and Dean Walcott will get a stays of their scheduled deportations. And while we try to keep everyone else here, we continue to work for a political solution.

I still believe we are going to win this thing. Keep the pressure on.

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