I seem to recall stories some years back about changes to Canadian laws that would make it more difficult for Americans evading a draft to gain status as legal residents. Is this correct? What was the legal status of Vietnam-era American draft evaders in Canada? Were they classified as some kind of political refugees, or as “normal” resident aliens?
AFAIK, Americans who went to Canada were treated like anyone else who wanted to live there. As far as Canada was concerned, they had not committed any crime.
The law was that Canada would only extradite people accused of doing something that was not only illegal in their home country, but also illegal in Canada. Since Canada had no draft, the Americans moving there had committed no crime in their eyes, so they were not extradited.
The Smart Border Declaration could make it more difficult for draft evaders to enter Canada. If you could enter Canada legally (under Canadian law) and get residency eg with a student visa or marriage to a Canadian, you could not be extradited. But if you were in Canada illegally the Canadians could deport you back to the US unless you could get refugee status. Alot of it would probally depend on public opinion in Canada. Now does anybody know exactly how the SMD could be used to stop draft evaders? Does it evolve giving the Canadians a list or will Americans have to clear US customs to exit then country before clearing Canadian customs to enter Canada?