NDP MPs Invite Medea Benjamin and Colonel Ann Wright (Ret.) to speak on the Hill

OTTAWA – The NDP is urging the Harper government to allow US Peace Advocates Medea Benjamin and retired US Army Colonel Ann Wright to share their message of peace in a public forum on Parliament Hill scheduled for Thursday.

In a letter sent today to Harper, the Public Safety Minister, and Foreign Affairs Minister, the NDP MPs advised that Medea Benjamin and Col. Ann Wright, cofounders of Code Pink, have been invited to address legislators and representatives of civil society in a public forum to be held in Ottawa on October 25. The letter requested the government to “ensure unimpeded entry into Canada, to enable Ms. Benjamin and Colonel Wright to share their message of peace with Members of Parliament, and the broader community.”

“New Democrats are deeply concerned that Canadian border police are enforcing rules determined not by our own Canadian government, but by the FBI and other US security agencies,” the letter states. “Foreign government ‘watch lists’ should not form the basis for automatically denying entry into Canada of US citizens, or any other nationals. Government policies, not the individuals who oppose them, often present the greater threat to democracy, security and freedom.”

Ms. Benjamin and Colonel Wright will participate in a panel of distinguished experts including Canadian rights advocate and spouse of Maher Arar, Monia Mazigh, and Roch Tassé, Director of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group.

Harper and his Ministers have been invited to attend.

NDP | NDP to Harper: Lift border ban on us peace advocates

http://www.ndp.ca/xfer/pdf/2007-10-12-letter-harper.pdf