The federal minister of public safety, Peter Van Loan, has cited the Privacy Act in refusing to provide information on the admissibility of George W. Bush administration officials into Canada.

In a July 9 letter to Gail Davidson, a cofounder of the group Lawyers Against the War, Van Loan wrote that he cannot comment on the matter "as it concerns personal information about other individuals".

Davidson wrote to the federal government prior to Bush's visit Calgary on March 17, suggesting he was inadmissable under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Davidson later wrote to the RCMP War CrimeS Section stating that Bush is inadmissable "because of overwhelming evidence that he has "commited, outside Canada, torture and other offenses referred to in sections 4 to 7 of the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act".

She also claimed that the Bush administration has engaged in "systematic or gross human rights violations, or a war crime or a crime against humanity within the meaning of subsections 6(3) to (5) of the CAHWC".

Davidson described Van Loan's recent response as a "non-answer".

"It's obvious that the federal government has completely ignored the inadmissability sections of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act," Davidson told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview. "Their letter doesn't address the issues that we raised of Bush's admissability. Clearly, they took a different position on [British MP] George Galloway."

She added that international law imposes an obligation to prevent and punish war crimes.