Treason is merely a question of dates.
Man or a mouse? I don't know. History books will decide that.
Immigration Canada is the disturbing issue here. We sponsor strippers, but deport an Iranian woman who's worked and paid taxes her entire time here, whose entire immediate family is legally in our country, and, whether or not the whole story is being told in the press, we send her back to a country that murdered an imprisoned female Canadian reporter recently and won't admit it.
On the other hand, we refuse to turn over an AWOL soldier to the US. Maybe he's a man for taking a stand, and maybe he's a mouse for shirking his duty during tough times. Either way, that's an issue for the US courts to decide, not ours.
There's no way this soldier's situation is anything like having a boss who tells you to do something illegal. By the way, can anyone even recall a single instance recently of an employee anywhere in North America who turned in his/her boss for illegal activities or direction? I can't. I guess my mind is clogged with Enron's sudden bankruptcy, Anderson Consulting's scandalous book-keeping advice to Enron, Nortel's innovative interpretations of GAAP in their quarterly reports, and more.
Do you think the Canadian Airborne regiment wanted to disband a few years ago after their hazing rituals were slagged in the press? I recall some CBC hack asking the regiment commander what he thought of the government order to disband. His answer was (or words to the effect), "There's nothing to think about. It's a legal order. We're going to comply with it."
I think the bigger issue is that whether we're talking about Vancouver, the province of BC, Canada, or North America as a whole, there's no issue at any of those levels that has everyone pulling in the same direction. We had best find something to grab on to soon.
