American anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan wants the Canadian government to grant sanctuary to U.S. army deserters. "I told him, 'I'll do anything. I'll take you to Canada. Let's go to Canada, or if you don't want to go to Canada, then I'll run you over with my car and break your legs,'" she said. Sheehan said the U.S. government lied to her son and other soldiers by telling them they wouldn't be forced to participate in war if they signed up. Two American military deserters who arrived in Canada separately in 2004 — Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey — have been denied refugee status in Canada. They argued that the Iraq occupation violates international human rights and was illegal. Hinzman has appealed and the Federal Court is now reviewing the decision. Many others are anxiously watching the case. There are currently 20 active refugee claims by American military deserters. About 150 deserters are known to be living in Canada, according to the War Resisters Support Campaign, though the organization believes the number could be as high as 1,500. It's estimated 40,000 to 60,000 U.S. draft dodgers fled to Canada during the Vietnam War. Sheehan, who is in Ottawa as part of a cross-Canada tour, will be speaking at Carleton University Thursday night.
Cindy Sheehan, a prominent U.S. anti-war activist, appeared at a news conference at the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario on Thursday to speak  being in Afghanistan, and in favour of Canada giving U.S. deserters refugee status.

"I believe our war resisters are legitimate refugees," Ms. Sheehan said while also alleging that the soldiers are within their rights to desert because many are "lied to" by U.S. military recruiters who tell them they won't have to fight in Iraq.

Sheehan, the mother of a fallen American soldier who served in Iraq, called on the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to "open the border" to U.S. military deserters.
"My son was an honourable, honest person lied to by his recruiter," she said.

Sheehan said that Canadian soldiers being in Afghanistan enables the United States to carry on its "illegal and immoral" war in Iraq. "I believe my country shouldn't be in Afghanistan anyway," Ms. Sheehan told reporters on Parliament Hill. "It's never about spreading freedom or democracy or making the world safe, it's about lining the war profiteers' pockets. My country supported Osama bin Laden in the fight against Russia," she said. "And now they go in and tear down that country. It's back in the hands of the drug lords, it's producing more opium than ever, and it's not safe. There's not any rebuilding going on, because it's being occupied by occupying forces." 

She made an address to approximately 300 students on Wednesday night at the University of Toronto. Her appearances are part of a cross-county campaign targeted at university campuses.