Galloway argues in court he was barred from entering Canada because of bias

The outspoken left-wing politician was supposed to visit Canada on a four-city speaking tour in March 2009, but was told he was inadmissible on security grounds after making public donations to Hamas.

The matter is currently in front of Justice Richard Mosley in Canada’s federal court.

Lawyer for Galloway, Barbara Jackman, told the court in her concluding statements that Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney used the force of Canada’s immigration laws to deliberately prevent Canadians from hearing Galloway’s anti-war message.

Government lawyers argued that Kenney was not involved in the decision to ban Galloway. The lawyers also said that Galloway must be considered a member of a terrorist organization under Canadian law because he provided financial and material support to Hamas, considered by Canada to be a terrorist group.

Galloway denies supporting Hamas and  has argued that his donations were made for purely humanitarian reasons. 

Marie-Louise Wcislo, a government immigration lawyer, said that Galloway was warned by government officials that he would not be admitted to the country, but those warnings were courtesies based on a “preliminary assessment” of his admissibility. Galloway was never formally deemed inadmissible because he never tried to enter Canada.

As Galloway is a British citizen he does not need a Canadian visa to enter Canada, and therefore could only be deemed inadmissible by a Canadian border officer.

Galloway decided not to enter Canada for his speaking engagement, but went to New York City where his address was made via video link.

Justice Richard Mosley did not indicate when he would deliver his decision.

The Canadian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people lodge their Canadian visa applications with the Canadian Embassy.