Posted on 09/30/2004 10:50:51 AM PDT by kingattax
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A Canadian community has blocked plans for a controversial memorial to Americans who fled to Canada to avoid the Vietnam War and U.S. military draft, officials said on Wednesday.
Peace activists wanted to build the memorial as part of a reunion celebration scheduled for 2006 in Nelson, a small city in the mountains of southeastern British Columbia, where many of the Vietnam-era draft dodgers eventually settled.
The proposal was denounced by the U.S. Veterans of Foreign Wars, and came as the issue of service in the military during Vietnam has become an emotional flashpoint in the U.S. presidential campaign.
Nelson's council passed a special resolution on Wednesday that would requires any memorial using public funds or being built on public lands to have "widespread community support."
"The Our Way Home monument does not meet this standard," the council said in a press release.
The veterans group and other U.S. critics of the plan had asked the White House to intervene, and threatened to organize an economic boycott of the Nelson area in the Kootenay Region, which has a significant tourism industry.
The Our Way Home group had already told city officials it was willing to locate the bronze sculpture somewhere else, but still planned to hold the peace gathering in July 2006.
The group said it wanted to honor both the U.S. citizens who moved to Canada, rather than serve in a war they politically opposed, and the Canadians who helped them build lives in a new country.
It has been estimated that 125,000 Americans fled to Canada to avoid Vietnam and prosecution under U.S. law, although about half returned home after President Jimmy Carter granted amnesty in 1997
Wow. Canadians I can respect. Keen.
too bad I wanted to see just how long it would last after the dedication given the numbers of spec ops still able to stealthfully infiltrate and demolate ugly symbols...
All of the Canadians I've spoken with are embarrassed at this.
ping
I guess the Canadians heard the rumble of 50,000 Canadian WW2 war heroes spinning in their graves.
Of course Jimmy would give draft dodgers amnesty. These are his voters after all (note the movement to give back the vote to ex-felons).
No Canadian memorial to Vietnam War draft-dodgers could ever be more disgraceful than the two "memorials" we built for them right here in the United States -- the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections.
Wow, Jimmy Carter was president for a long time. You learn something new every day.
Like a dying fish stranded on a dock, even a nation governed by Leftist idiots and scoundrels sometimes has an isolated spasm of sense. Canada though still seems unlikely to survive its next hard test as a nation unless we bother to prop them up out of misplaced charity.
I suspect that this was done for economic reasons rather than moral ones.
GOOD NEWS!
btw that's a typo, I think it was 1977 when "Peanutbrain" gave the draft dodgers amnesty...
Semper Fi,
Kelly
I agree with you. Their favorite accusation against GWB is "liar," the charge for which their Icon was impeached.
Libs live for the day when the whole world will agree with them that Clinton was not the only liar, "but everyone does it." Until that day, they will remain in battle mode against President Bush.
These, however, are the same people who are today excusing Kerry's latest lie - that he misspoke the famous $87 billion line because it was late at night - when he said it at an official campaign event to rayy-goers who were present.
They have a candidate who is not comfortable with reality, and that is OK with them!
Yes, one of their basic tenets is "tolerance" which is libspeak for solely their own perspective! Any deviation from their viewpoint is conveniently labelled "hatespeech."
Yes, we are very fortunate to have FreeRepublic.
Yeah, who'd a thunk it? ; )
You sure do have us figured out. That was sarcasm BTW.
"I suspect that this was done for economic reasons rather than moral ones."
The actions here are what have relevance. They did the right thing. I don't care why.
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