NOTHING SHORT OF KIDNAPPING

Re: "Calgary boy in foster care to stay in U.S.," (April 10).

Would someone in the know please enlighten me as to how and why a
Canadian minor can be held by U.S. authorities against his will and
the will of his family because he was riding his bike without wearing
a helmet while on vacation in the U.S.? If there is an issue regarding
this child's welfare, mental or otherwise, authorities in Oregon
should return him to the appropriate Alberta foster care or equivalent
agency to determine his needs and welfare at home where he has access
to his family and vice-versa. To keep this child separated from his
homeland and his family at the discretion of an albeit
well-intentioned agency in Oregon is nothing short of foreign
governmental kidnapping. And with not an apparent peep of protest from
our own provincial, or indeed federal agencies on behalf of this child
and his family. Outrageous and totally unacceptable!

Dave Berte

(A bizarre tale.)