Building Sanctuary: The Movement to Support Vietnam War Resisters in Canada, 1965-73 - Softcover

Jessica Squires

9780774825252: Building Sanctuary: The Movement to Support Vietnam War Resisters in Canada, 1965-73

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0774825251 ISBN 13: 9780774825252

Publisher: UBC Press, 2014

Canada enjoys a reputation as a peaceable kingdom. Yet during the Vietnam War era, Canadians met American war resisters not with open arms but with political obstacles and public resistance, and the border remained closed to what were then called “draft dodgers” and “deserters.” Between 1965 and 1973, a small but active cadre of Canadian antiwar groups and peace activists launched campaigns to open the border. Jessica Squires tells their story, often in their own words, bringing to light how these men and women shaped Canadian immigration policy, Canadian identity, and the course of Canadian-American relations in their quest to transform Canada into a refuge from militarism.

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Review:

Building Sanctuary is a fascinating study of war resistance and the sixties in North America. Based on official police records as well as oral interviews and newspaper evidence, it not only tells the engrossing story of the immigration to Canada of about forty thousand US war resisters but also subtly analyzes the political and ethical issues raised by resistance to the War in Vietnam. At a time when a reactivated militarism once more challenges progressives throughout the world, Jessica Squires provides us with an inspiring, insightful account of how an earlier generation of activists fought the madness of war – and emerged with some precious, if fragile, victories. A must-read for students of modern Canada, antiwar activism, and the sixties. Author: Ian McKay, Department of History, Queen’s University

From the Author:

Jessica Squires is an independent scholar of Canadian political, social, and cultural history who lives and works in Gatineau, Quebec.

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