"These people were not coerced into the KGB; this was not a conscript organization. These were an elite group. They were rather like the [Nazi] SS," said Lubomyr Luciuk of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Assn.
Hergesheimer, Lennikov's pastor, said parishioners hope the Canadian minister of public safety, Peter Van Loan, will exercise his discretion under the law and grant an exemption allowing the Lennikovs to stay.
"The government hasn't been able to show any justifiable reason why they consider him to be a threat or a detriment to the country," he said.
Taking Lennikov into the church "in some ways was a little bit like a football game, where the quarterback throws the ball out of bounds so you stop the clock. So everybody can step back and see what we can do now," Hergesheimer said.
Lennikov has a small room at the back of the church, and spends much of his days taking phone calls and replying to e-mail. Irina, who now must look for a second job, visits about three times a week. Church members stop by with a hot dish for dinner and a brief chat.
"My main question is why it's happening," Lennikov said. "Why am I such a threat?"
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kim.murphy@latimes.com
