TORONTO -- A court decision Monday upholding a ban on George Galloway from entering the country amid allegations he engaged in terrorist acts will see the British MP deliver speeches to Canadian audiences via a live video link from New York.We could ban him too, couldn't we?
Following the Federal Court ruling, organizers of Mr. Galloway's now aborted speaking tour said the maverick politician would not attempt to enter Canada. "We're not interested in doing anything illegal whatsoever," said James Clark, a peace activist and one of the speaking tour's organizers. "Our expectations were such that we were already implementing Plan B, which was to make sure that he can still deliver the speech from a live broadcast."
Mr. Galloway had been set to visit Toronto on Monday, the first of four scheduled speaking engagements in Canada.
The Canada Border Services Agency advised Mr. Galloway, in a letter dated March 20, that he had been deemed inadmissible to Canada on the grounds he allegedly engaged in terrorist activities. The MP has denied such links although he has openly voiced support for the Palestinian cause and was part of a group that delivered financial and other assistance to Gaza.
Mr. Galloway and supporters asked Federal Court on Sunday for an emergency injunction allowing him to come, pending the possibility of a judicial review of the government's position.
However, Justice Luc Martineau ruled Monday he was not in a position to allow Mr. Galloway into the country although he did say there were "serious issues to be tried" if the judicial review occurs. "The arguments raised by the applicants are not frivolous or vexatious," Martineau ruled. "However, a proper factual record and the benefit of full legal argument . . . are lacking at the present time."
The decision represented a "partial victory" in that the court did recognize there was a serious issue at stake, Mr. Clark said.
"We want to pursue and examine all the questions that have come up about how and why the (border agency) preemptorily issued this ruling of inadmissibility to Mr. Galloway," Mr. Clark said.
Mr. Galloway planned to deliver his speeches to Toronto, Mississauga, Ont., Montreal and Ottawa this week from a studio in New York City.
In the letter to Mr. Galloway, the government said he had given $45,000 to Hamas, which is a banned terrorist organization in Canada. His supporters say Mr. Galloway had given money to the head of the government in Gaza but not to the head of Hamas, even though they are the same person.
What a buncha idiots...