Categories: Potter Gold

Ayers denied entry — or told not to bother?

UDPDATE3: It looks like things are a little more complicated. Apparently Ayers wasn’t actually…

by Andrew Potter on Thursday, May 21, 2009 12:16pm - 19 Comments

UDPDATE3: It looks like things are a little more complicated. Apparently Ayers wasn’t actually denied a visa; instead, it appears that his lawyer, who has been trying to get him into the country since he was refused entry at Toronto in January, told Ayers not to bother even trying. Will try to figure out what that means soon.

CONFIRMED: Joanne Laucius has the story

So here’s a question: Why did Ayers apply for a visa? That’s one of the big unanswered questions at this point.

*******

Well at least they are consistent: William Ayers, due to give a talk next Monday at the Congress of the Humanities in Ottawa, has been apparently denied entry to Canada. More to come — no comment till I confirm it. If you have details drop me a line at

jandrewpotter at gmail.com

UPDATE: Here’s the link to his scheduled talk.

UPDATE 2: Here is Don Butler’s interview with Ayers when Galloway was refused entry.

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Jean Proulx

Ridiculous
http://www.jackmitchell.ca Jack Mitchell

I find it hard to believe these decisions are not politically motivated.

RayK

“I find it hard to believe these decisions are not politically motivated.”

Yeah, I think that’s pretty easily proved. Let’s check how many times Bill Ayers was banned from entering the country–for things he did thirty to forty years ago–his name was mentioned along side Barack Obama’s on FOX News.

RayK

“I find it hard to believe these decisions are not politically motivated.”

Yeah, I think that’s pretty easily proved. Let’s check how many times Bill Ayers was banned from entering the country–for things he did thirty to forty years ago–BEFORE his name was mentioned along side Barack Obama’s on FOX News.

Critical Reasoning

Ayers, of course, was convicted for his role in a US domestic terrorist group many years ago.

On the other hand, wasn’t Ayers allowed to enter Canada at other times in the past 10 years? If so, why the inconsistency?

Andrew Potter

See the new link in my post to a story by Don Butler — Ayers claims he’s been here at least 25 times over the years.
SAB

I believe he was never convicted although has publicly admitted to crimes.
RayK

Ayers was never convicted of anything–repeat, NEVER CONVICTED OF ANYTHING. Ayers was never even accused of taking part in terrorist acts; he was only accused of helping those who did by procuring fake IDs, etc.

That certainly doesn’t mean that didn’t do anything wrong, but one would think that that and the fact this all happened decades ago would be relevant to a decision to ban him from the country as a security risk.

Critical Reasoning

Thanks, RayK. I stand corrected. Ayers was never convicted for his terrorist activities.

Wotcher?

Ayers was never convicted of anything. The charges were dropped.

Wotcher?

Sorry, looks like I was a bit late with that.

madeyoulook

OK, so he’s not a convicted terrorist. But it says here on my list that he is a self-confessed former criminal whose own country saw fit to ignore prosecution of these self-confessed crimes. And, gallowayian drum roll please, he is not a Canadian citizen and therefore has no expectation of a scrubbing of a self-confessed blighted history upon presentation at our doorstep.

Maybe CSIS and CBSA are finally doing a better job? There was a big event a few years back that might have prompted an overhaul of security measures. 2001, I think. Waning days of summer. I’m sure it was in all the papers.

Oh, but wait a minute, the guy’s a lefty, so CSIS and CBSA doing a better job is quite simply political interference. Well, now, wait, that would make more sense if, just like for George the Clown, Big Brother refused to allow Ayers’ writings or video depictions of his remarks into the country, or if big burly guys in dark suits and sunglasses and earpieces came over to the conference to unplug the videolink satellite feed in order to — oh, never mind…

Canadians have the Charter-defined freedom to hear what this guy has to say. This guy does not have any Charter-provided right to enter this sovereign country. It’s pretty simple. Let him yak away to anyone who wants to hear him, but let him yak from over yonder.

http://www.jackmitchell.ca Jack Mitchell

Granted, granted, granted, and . . . granted, MYL. Howbeit, Canadians have a right to know why they are denying him access through their government. Who is or isn’t let into the country shouldn’t be decided on a whiim of somebody in the CBSA, they should be following some kind of guideline. So what’s the guideline?

http://carnewsandviews.com jwl

Not sure why a cop-killer should be allowed into the country but I’m certain that others here will ‘educate’ me.

http://www.jackmitchell.ca Jack Mitchell

That’s easy: Ayers is not a cop-killer.

Oh Boy

But “jwl” is a libelist.

Alex

“William Ayers, noted educator and public figure, will speak about his recent experience of not being able to cross the Canadian border to speak at the University of Toronto.”

Ironic, no?
http://www.jackmitchell.ca Jack Mitchell

In view of Update 2 above, I wonder if someone at the CBSA isn’t taking revenge.
dan in van

Guess along with shaming or ‘encouraging’ Canadians to not seek opportunities outside our borders, it goes to follow that we’d discourage ‘non-Canadian foreigners’ to stay off our shores. So this is the firewall Harper was always grumbling about…