This is what we are all about!
You make my heart pump proud.
Job well done – many thanks to Gail, Blake, Don, Derrick, Darren (and all those helping behind the scenes) on behalf of many people in many countries, including the U.S. and Canada.
Click on the video at the top of the page: http://www.creativetechnology.org/
Now, let’s help! spread the word, help get people out. Make the great work of Gail et al pay off:
Dick Cheney’s scheduled appearance, Vancouver, Mon Sept 26, 5:30pm, Book Club, 915 W Hastings at Hornby
From: Blake MacLeod
Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 9:47 AM
Subject: URGENT – Press Conference Today!
Here is the announcement for the press conference, and the letter to Government & RCMP et al from Gail Davidson of Lawyers Against the War:
Friday, September 23, 2011
Civil society responds to Dick Cheney’s scheduled Vancouver appearance
‘Laws against war crimes must be enforced’
What: Press conference by civil society and local politicians regarding Dick Cheney’s upcoming visit to Vancouver.
(Click on http://www.creativetechnology.org/ )
Who: Statements will be made by Vancouver-Kingsway Member of Parliament Don Davies, Immigration Critic for the Official Opposition, Gail Davidson of Lawyers Against War, and Derrick O’Keefe of the StopWar Coalition and the Canadian Peace Alliance, as well as other spokespeople for civil society groups.
Why: Former U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney has chosen Vancouver as the first stop outside of the United States for his ongoing book tour. Local anti-war and human rights activists, and other civil society groups, have organized to demand that the Canadian government, in accordance with both Canadian and international law, arrest Cheney for war crimes including authorizing torture.
“Canada has very clear laws against war crimes, and is a signatory to myriad international treaties and conventions pertaining to the laws of war, and this is why we are demanding that the Canadian government take action to arrest Dick Cheney when he enters Canada next Monday, September 26 in Vancouver,” said Gail Davidson of Lawyers Against War. “Cheney is responsible for helping launch an illegal war on Iraq and for authorizing torture – Canada’s laws against war crimes must be enforced in this case,” said Davidson.
Cheney is to be hosted by ‘Le Bon Mot’ book club, which has an event scheduled for the evening of Sept. 26 at the Vancouver Club. The StopWar Coalition has called for a protest outside the event (915 W. Hastings, at Hornby), beginning at 5:30p.m. on the 26th.
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Media Contacts
Derrick O’Keefe: 604.803.6927
Gail Davidson: 604-738-0338
Please note too that Sandra Finley is very much involved in this.
Best regards,
Blake MacLeod
Vancouver
Cell: 1 604 328 7331
Board Member – World Federalist Movement – Canada, Vancouver Branch
and a bunch of other stuff…
= = = = = = = = = =
By Carlito Pablo, September 23, 2011
Finally, an elected Canadian politician has the balls to take on Dick.
In a calm and measured voice, Vancouver Kingsway MP Don Davies today (September 23) declared that former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney should be barred from entering Canada.
Davies was speaking at a news conference held at the W2 Media Café in downtown Vancouver, which saw peace activist Derrick O’Keefe, lawyer Gail Davidson, and global peace advocate Blake MacLeod deliver statements about Cheney’s Monday (September 26) speaking engagement at the Vancouver Club.
The federal NDP’s immigration critic outlined the case why Cheney should not be allowed to waltz into town based on the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Davies cited Section 35 of this law, which states in part that a foreign national is inadmissible for entry into Canada if the person is “a prescribed senior official in the service of a government that, in the opinion of the Minister, engages or has engaged in terrorism, systematic or gross human rights violations, or genocide, a war crime or a crime against humanity within the meaning of subsections 6(3) to (5) of the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act”.
A lawyer, Davies also cited Section 36 of IRPA that provides in part that a person is also inadmissible if the individual was responsible for “an act outside Canada that is an offence in the place where it was committed and that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years”.
Davies said that he wrote Conservative Immigration Minister Jason Kenney today to remind the federal government that it has the responsibility to “uphold the law”.
According to Davies, the former American vice president has openly and unapologetically admitted that he did not stop acts of torture perpetrated against perceived enemies of the U.S.
Davies said that he considers practices like waterboarding, or simulated drowning, and sleep deprivation as acts of torture.
“Torture is a serious crime. It is a war crime. It is a crime against humanity,” said Davies, who was enthusiastically applauded after delivering his statement.