by matttbastard
@$%#@!!11 pale @ A Creative Revolution brings the bad news:
The Immigration and Refugee board says [Alison Bodine] “lied” or misrepresented herself when entering Canada, way back on September 10.
The Canadian Press has more details on the ruling:
Marc Tessler said the Immigration Act stipulated that her lack of full disclosure at the border crossing south of Vancouver amounted to “misrepresentation” as defined in the legislation.
[…]
He said Bodine arrived at the Peace Arch crossing south of Vancouver about 2 a.m. Sept. 10 with a vehicle loaded with personal belongings. The border officer said the amount of belongings and her limited funds made it unlikely she only planned to stay for the two months she indicated.
[…]
She was refused entry and headed south to the small community of Blaine, Wash., where a friend loaded much of her belongings and the anti-war literature into his car.
She returned to the border crossing, said Tessler, and was admitted into Canada but didn’t tell the border agent of her earlier attempt to cross. The bulk of her belongings and the anti-war literature were seized when the friend attempted to cross the border.
The adjudicator conceded he was “bewildered” by the earlier opinion of the border agent that she might not leave after two months. He said she had been at UBC for four years and had crossed the border many times.
He also said the anti-war literature and her belief that they were what led to her problems had nothing to do with his decision.
The adjudicator said that when she went to the border the second time she told the official her car contained only her possessions; she didn’t tell the agent that some of her belongings had been transferred to her friend’s vehicle.
She also said she planned to stay in Canada for two to three days and did not mention her earlier entry refusal, said Tessler.
While the initial refusal was “unjustified,” the “elements of the allegations of misrepresentation are established,” he said in ordering her removal.
So, Tessler’s decision has nothing to with the anti-war literature found in Bodine’s car. Right, but the adjudicator did admit to being “bewildered” by the first border guard’s “unjustified” initial refusal. Any way you look at it, the optics aren’t good – especially when coupled with the repeated refusal by Canadian border officials to allow Medea Benjamin and Ann Wright entry into Canada.
Keep watch for more updates @ ACR & Alison Bodine Speaks Out!
[edited to reflect additional information and for style, format and clarity]
Update: What Prole said.
Update 11.01:
“There is no reason to exclude me,” said Bodine, originally from Denver but who studied at the University of B.C. for four years. “I was just an easy target. We’ll continue organizing.”
[…]
She said her ordeal is meant to intimidate others who oppose Canada’s role in the war in Afghanistan.
“This is political targeting. They did this to intimidate people in the anti-war effort,” Bodine said.
“They shouldn’t have arrested me at all,” she said outside. “What the Immigration adjudicator ruled on upstairs was completely a technicality that they’ve chosen to pursue based on the fact I’m a political organizer. … I will not be allowed back in Canada for two years, for political organizing, for raising my voice, speaking out against war and occupation.”
Asked if her numerous bags, her pending job interview and the presence of a boyfriend in Vancouver signalled a desire to move here, she replied, “Eventually yes, I do want to live here in Canada.”
Also:
Alison Bodine Defence Committee Meeting
THUR NOV 1 6:30pm
in the Large North Hall of Joe’s Cafe
(on Commercial Drive at Napier St)
Join us to meet, discuss and analyze the legal outcome of the Admissibility Hearing Process. The Alison Bodine Defence Committee will meet, and invites all who are interested, to assess the campaign and discuss what’s next after this legal stage of this battle!
I’m several thousand kilometres away from spitting distance–anyone closer to the ‘hood going to attend the meeting?
bastard.logic 