U.S. war resister Brad McCall in hiding
A U.S. war resister who lived in East Vancouver has gone into hiding to avoid being deported. In a recent phone interview with the Georgia Straight, Brad McCall said he left the city and got rid of all his identification after learning that seven RCMP officers visited his home on Commercial Drive earlier this year.
He said he thinks the Mounties showed up to arrest him because he got confused and missed a “reporting date” set by immigration authorities. McCall added that neither he nor his roommate was home at the time, and the landlord encountered the RCMP trying to enter through a sliding glass door.
“I got my friend to get all my stuff out of the house and bring it to me somewhere else,” McCall said, “and I’ve been on the run ever since.”
McCall, 22, abandoned his U.S. army unit in Colorado Springs in September 2007. Shortly after arriving in Vancouver that month, he told the Straight that he didn’t want to commit “war crimes” in Iraq.
McCall said that the Immigration and Refugee Board has since dismissed his claim for refugee status. (IRB spokesperson Paula Faber told the Straight by phone that refugee claims are private, and she wouldn’t confirm or deny McCall’s statement.) McCall said that following the rejection of his claim, a deportation order was issued against him.
“I’m trying not to live my life in constant fear of them catching me, because [if] I do that, I’m letting them win,” he said.
While he has been in Canada, his grandmother has suffered a heart attack and he has been unable to visit his family in Alabama. McCall added that he has been in contact with the U.S. army and has learned that five members of his platoon were recently killed by a bomb in Iraq. “My unit is out right now in Iraq,” he said. “So if I go back right now, they told me they would give me two years in prison—two to three years in prison—and there was nothing else they could do for me.”
Meanwhile, in Toronto, supporters of Kimberly Rivera—the first female American war resister to seek refuge in Canada—held a vigil on July 8 outside a Federal Court hearing. On March 25, the Federal Court of Canada granted a stay on an order to deport her, which would have separated her from her partner.
Parliament has twice passed motions urging the Conservative government to allow war resisters and their families to remain in Canada, with no effect. Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney declared in January that U.S. war resisters are “bogus refugee claimants”. Canadian Council for Refugees president Elizabeth McWeeny wrote a letter to Kenney on January 8 claiming his comment gave “the strong appearance of political interference”.
“This is especially so given that reappointments are made by Cabinet: Board members might fear that if they do not follow your interpretation their chances of reappointment will be reduced,” McWeeny stated in the letter. “Highly publicized cases such as the war resisters are always challenging for the IRB, which must live up to its obligation to make fair, impartial and politically unmotivated determinations, based on the jurisprudence and the evidence before it. Public comments such as yours only make IRB members’ job more difficult and threaten claimants’ right to an unbiased decision.”
On June 26, the three opposition parties’ immigration critics—Maurizio Bevilacqua (Liberal), Olivia Chow (NDP), and Thierry St-Cyr (Bloc Québécois)—wrote a letter to Kenney reminding him of Parliament’s direction regarding Iraq-war resisters. “Therefore, we urge the government to show compassion for those who have chosen not to participate in a war that was not sanctioned by the United Nations,” the three MPs declared.
McCall said he thinks it’s “ridiculous” that the Canadian government wants to deport him. “A good soldier is a soldier who will say no if he needs to say no,” he insisted.
Comments
8 Comments
the_kgv
Jul 10, 2009 at 10:44am
I hve no sympathy for Mr. McCall or any others like him. What did they think might happen when they joined the U.S. military, that they would sit around washing jeeps and doing parade drills until their contract term was up? If you don't want a be in a profession where you might have to kill someone, then maybe you shouldn't be joining the military. Unlike the draft "dodgers" from the 60's and 70's, the current batch of war resisters that are claiming refugee status were/are not being forcibly conscripted into the military to fight in a conflict that they do not believe to be just. Don't get me wrong, I think that the main reason that the U.S. went into the middle east was to protect the oil and not, as they say, to "fight the war against terrorism". However, I believe that when you sign a contract to do a job, be it military, civilian, athletic, you should fulfill it.
osamalamadingdong
Jul 10, 2009 at 10:53am
Funny how Mr. McCall is not willing to go to jail for his "beliefs". If he would be willing to go to jail for what he believes to be right, then I would respect him and welcome him back into Canada after he served his time. As it is, I question his "real" reason for deserting his unit.
montyvan
Jul 14, 2009 at 12:48pm
It is now perfectly clear that George Bush's war was started on the basis of lies and misinformation. This has resulted in many deaths of innocent people and soldiers forced to engage in this illegal war. NO ONE signs up to the military to protect the oil industry or torture. So those of you calling this young man a coward are the real cowards. It's also shocking to see no compassion from Canadians, a once peaceful and compassionate nation. This war has done nothing good for the world.
brandon
Jul 14, 2009 at 1:12pm
I have had the pleasure of meeting Brad. He was a very young and naive man when he joined the army. He thought he was going to protect people lives not be responsible for taking innocent lives. Anyone who joins the military and then realizes what a tragic mistake it is to give away your autonomy to a force of violence that expects you to obey without thought should be allowed asylum from being forced to subjugate and kill innocent lives. Brad is right in what he is doing and I wish people would realize that we don't need to fight each other anymore we should just evolve beyond silly ideological differences.
dimplesponge@yahoo.ca
Jul 14, 2009 at 1:32pm
Its an illegal and immoral war declared on false pretences, the regime that declared it was corrupt, the President (Alfred E. Newman) was a moron and the vice-president (Darth Vader the real power behind the throne) was insane, both of them should beon trial for war crimes, hundreds of thousands, have been killed for nothing, including five members of McCall's own unit, to me those seem like pretty good reasons not to go. However running from the R.CM.P. can not end well. He should turn himself in and do the time in the states and write a book while he is in prison and fight for the cause if he really believes in it.
brandon
Jul 15, 2009 at 4:46pm
Never turn yourself into them.
donald
Mar 2, 2010 at 5:18pm
I knew Brad right before he joined the military and i told him what was gonna happen and he said he was not scared and that is what he wanted to do,FIGHT FOR HIS COUNTRY!!! So i think that when he found out he was really gonna have to go do what he signed up to do that he got yellow!!! DONT I repeat DONT join the military in the middle of the war just for the G.I. bill money that you are gonna get, be a man and come home and serve your time for doing your crime!!! i never served in the military for health reasons, but if i could have i would not have joined in the middle of a war!
Logan
Aug 30, 2014 at 10:28am
Brad is a close friend of mine, Brad is most definately not a coward. You giys have no idea what its like to grow up in small town Alabama where the only eay out is a job at a condom factory or the the military. Brad thought he was signing up to help people, it was only while in training that he was able to break away from the influence of patriarchs in his home community and question the function of the war machine for himself.
Brad made the heroic decision to say no to a illegal war and he suffered greatly because of it. No medical care, no job or income, he couldnt even jay walk without fear of deportation and jail time.
Brad has since turned him self in and continues to fight against ignorance and bigotry