SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The controversial former politician George Galloway from Great Britain accused of having ties to terrorism, will be in Yellowknife tonight as part of a 10-city Canadian tour.

George Galloway, the controversial former British politician, will be speaking in Yellowknife tomorrow. - photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

"To get an international person – it's kind of exciting that someone would come up and visit us in the North. We don't often get that many 'big name' speakers," explained Shauna Morgan, a spokesperson for the Yellowknife-based group Focus on Palestine that is hosting the event.

Morgan explained that Galloway's speech – Free Palestine, Free Afghanistan, Free Speech – will relate to Northerners given the claim free speech and human rights are threatened in Canada, and the source of the threat is the governing Conservative Party.

"There's all kinds of human rights issues that we're already dealing with up here (in the north) in terms of aboriginal rights," she said. "I think it's important to hear how those may be in danger."

"Sometimes we feel removed from foreign policy and international affairs up here," Morgan further explained. "But the reality is this is a very multicultural place. We have local Palestinians in town – we have people from all around the world. And immigration and refugee issues do affect all of us – it's part of our community."

In 2009, Galloway made headlines in Canada when he was informed by immigration officials he was banned from entering Canada for allegedly providing funds to the Palestinian group Hamas, considered by the Canadian Government to be a terrorist organization. On Oct. 2, 2010, Galloway landed in Toronto days after Federal court judge Richard Mosley ruled Galloway should be allowed to enter the country and the previous decision not to let him in was political. Regardless, the incident has been detrimental to Galloway's reputation by unfairly labelling him a terrorist, said Morgan.

Not everyone is happy with Galloway's visit to Canada. "It has nothing to do with free speech," explained Meir Weinstein, national director of the Toronto-based Jewish Defence League. "In front of TV cameras, he gave money to the head of Hamas, and he said this is not charity, this is politics. He knew that what he was doing was in violation of various governments that deem giving funds to Hamas is a criminal act. And therefore, on that basis, we don't even know why he's permitted to be here," said Weinstein. The group publicly protested Galloway's Nov. 20 speech in Toronto.

"Anyone who is a threat against my existence and my people's existence, we're going to oppose," said Weinstein. "Whether the law says this or the law says that, if there is a threat against our people, we have to take a stand. It's as simple as that."

Morgan defended the 2009 incident between Galloway and Hamas on the grounds Galloway was providing Gaza with humanitarian aid and supplies. In terms of whether Galloway poses a security threat to Canada, she said "the (federal) court's decision speaks for itself."

The 56-year-old Scottish-born Galloway was a member of Parliament for the UK's Labour Party until 2003 when he was expelled from the party, allegedly for his opposition to the Iraq War. A year later, Galloway helped form the Respect Party, but was not reelected into the UK Parliament during the May 2010 election. Besides his political activities, Galloway appeared as a contestant on the UK reality TV show Big Brother in 2006.

Galloway's Canadian tour began in Montreal on Nov. 17. Before visiting Yellowknife tomorrow, he spoke in Halifax, Hamilton, Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto. The Yellowknife event begins at 7:30 p.m. at Northern United Place on Franklin Avenue. Morgan said a microphone will be set up for the audience. After tomorrow, Galloway will continue on to Edmonton, Winnipeg and finally Ottawa on Nov. 27.

Galloway was not available for an interview before press time.

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