Welcome home
Nine-year-old Canadian Kevin Yourdkhani will soon be coming home to Toronto from the Hutto detention facility where he and Iranian parents have been held by U.S. Immigration authorities after they were found to be carrying false passports when their flight from South America to Canada made an unscheduled stop in the United States due to a medical emergency. The nine-year-old and his parents have been incarcerated for a month, but will soon be free - no thanks to Peter McKay or Stephen Harper who declined to intervene. Way to "Stand Up For Canada" guys.
Immigration Minister Diane Finlay has promised to grant the family a reprieve, which will be sufficient for them to get out of jail in the U.S. and come to Canada to try to get residency status. The parents were deported in 2005 after a ten year struggle to be accepted as refugees. They say they were arrested and tortured immediately after their return to Iran. Their son was born in Canada and is a Canadian citizen.

See, they aren't all wankers

A great big Woodshed thanks to Ralph Isenberg for being a real mensch.

Ralph Isenberg, a Dallas real estate developer whose Chinese-born wife has had her own struggles with immigration authorities, was so touched by Kevin's story he contacted Brouwer to offer help, including covering the family's airfare to Toronto.

"This is my apology to the Canadian people, to say sorry for the insensitivity of our government in taking a 9-year-old boy into custody in a maximum-security prison. Can you imagine what permanent damage it can cause to the child?" Isenberg said.

"Last I heard, Canada is one of our best allies, and this is how we treat our best friend from Canada? God only help you if you're the enemy of the U.S."