Canada's immigration minister was met by protestors in Calgary on Tuesday.
They are pressuring Jason Kenney, and the Canadian government, to offer asylum to American soldiers fleeing to Canada.
"Being a deserter from voluntary military service in a democracy does not, in anyway, meet the standard international definition of a refugee...we're not going to contort the refugee laws to suit some people's political agenda," says Jason Kenney.
The head of Tuesday's protest says traditional rules don't apply when it comes to American soldiers fleeing the Iraq War.
"These are human beings who are making a moral choice, a moral decision that this war is illegal. Some of them have been to Iraq and have seen very serious breaches of international law and that's why they've made the decision to come [to Canada]," says Collette Lemieux a supporter of the War Resisters campaign.
To date, 12 American war resisters have fled to Canada because of a moral issues associated with the war in Iraq.
On June 3, 2008, a motion passed in the House of Commons calling on the Conservative government to stop the removal proceedings against the American war resisters.
So far, the federal Conservatives have not changed their position on the issue.
Kenny says there is a big difference between signing up for the military and being drafted.
He also says it's not the government's responsibility to change immigration laws based on ideology.
