anti-RNC Activists Barred from Canada
February 3rd, 2008 | by Crash the Conventions |
ROAD Kingston, the group in Kingston, ON who was planning to host the RNC Welcoming Committee on their tour of the Northeast has announced that the RNC Welcoming Committee workshop planned for this evening in Kingston, Ontario was canceled. Apparently the border police, FBI, and ATF barred the American RNC “Welcoming Committee” activists from entering Canada to give their talk about the upcoming protests against the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN. The activists were held at the border for 5 hours while they were investigated, only to find out that they were not allowed into the country. The rest of the Northeast tour is still on track, but both Canadian dates have been canceled.
This is certainly not the first time Canada has banned dissidents from entering the country. Over the years there have been a number of reports of Americans being told they cannot enter Canada on political grounds.
In 2002, David Rovics, an indie folk singer who’s well-known for being critical of globalization and the war on Iraq, wrote a song about being turned back at the Canadian border while traveling to the 2002 G-8 meetings in Calgary. The song is called “Outside Agitator” (download it).
(The RNC Welcoming Committee has posted a clarification of what happened on their website)
One Response to “anti-RNC Activists Barred from Canada”
By ROAD Kingston on Feb 4, 2008 | Reply
a quick correction from ROAD Kingston: It was the JTTF (Joint Terrorism Task Force) and not the ATF that was involved with the FBI. we misheard over the phone.