Canada Turns Away Bill Ayers

Amanda Carpenter

Jan 19, 2009 1:05 PM January 19, 2009 1:05 PM

Immigration authorities in Canada refused to let Bill Ayers to stay in the country after flying into Toronto for a university speech.

"I don't know why I was turned back," Ayers told

The Star. "I got off the plane like everyone else and I was asked to come over to the other side. The border guards reviewed some stuff and said I wasn't going to be allowed into Canada. To me it seems quite bureaucratic and not at all interesting ... If it were me I would have let me in. I couldn't possibly be a threat to Canada."

Ayers's lawyer says this is an issue of "academic freedom."