The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #119549 Message #2596332
Posted By: Jim Dixon
24-Mar-09 - 02:59 PM
Thread Name: BS: Brit/Scot MP banned from visiting Canada
Subject: RE: BS: Brit/Scot MP banned from visiting Canada
Meself: You're right, I misunderstood you. However, in cases like this, you have to ask, do officials really enforce the law uniformly, or only when it suits them because the person in question has opinions that the current government doesn't like?
Also, although lower-level officials are constrained by myriad laws and rules, I believe higher-level politicians can overrule them for political reasons. I believe it was Jimmy Carter who personally decided to issue a visa to the Shah of Iran, thus touching off the famous Iranian hostage affair. I assume this kind of thing can happen in Canada as well as the US.
I recall a similar case in which Farley Mowat, a Canadian, was barred from entering the US. I think the official reason was that he had threatened to shoot at aircraft that he believed were flying too low over his land, but some people thought it was really because he was speaking out about acid rain. I don't know how that issue was resolved, or if it was.