[On March 12, 1996, the United States Congress passed the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity

(Libertad)
Act, better known as the Helms-Burton Act. This act provided, among other measures designed to intensify the
US blockade of Cuba, for punitive actions to be taken against officers and stock-holders (and members of their
families) of any company that does business in Cuba on property that was expropriated from American citizens
at the time of the Cuban Revolution. These provisions were promptly applied to citizens of Canada, Mexico,
Italy, the UK, and other countries trading with Cuba. Many countries protested against the act as a violation of
basic principles of national sovereignty and international law, and passed laws to counter its effects. (These
include Canada's Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act and Mexico's Law of Protection of Commerce and
Investments from Foreign Policies that Contravene International Law.)
Two Canadian MPs, John Godfrey and Peter Milliken, also prepared a private member's bill, the GodfreyMilliken Bill (C-339):
An Act to permit descendants of United Empire Loyalists who fled the land that later became
the United States of America after the 1776 American Revolution to establish a claim to the
property they or their ancestors owned in the United States that was confiscated without
compensation, and claim compensation for it in the Canadian courts, and to exclude from
Canada any foreign person trafficking in such property.
Bill C-339 drew attention to the fact that Loyalists whose property had been confiscated during and after the
American Revolution never received compensationa direct violation of the Treaty of Paris (1783), ratified by
the US Congress, which provided for the restitution of all Estates, Rights, and Properties, which have been
confiscated. It need hardly be said that although the Godfrey-Milliken Bill received first reading in the House of
Commons on 22 October 1996, it was never passed: parliamentarians were no doubt aware that the US
government has a limited appetite for open mockery from subordinate powers.
I was acquainted with John Godfrey from his time as President of the University of King's College in Halifax
(for whose Foundation Year Program I had given lectures), and wrote the following letter to him. It has not
previously been published]

[Index: US politics, Canadian politics]

[Date: July 1996]

Letter to John Godfrey, MP

John Godfrey, MP,

House of Commons,
Ottawa.

27 July 1996.

Dear Dr. Godfrey,

Hearty congratulations on your response to the Helms-Burton Act.
I assume that your bill will very shortly become law, and that the government of
Canada will soon begin amassing information about the properties confiscated by the
revolutionary government of the United States from people who remained loyal to the
British crown, and were forced after 1783 to immigrate to this country. I would be
grateful if you could pass the following information on to the appropriate authorities.

My great-great-great-great grandfather George Kieffer, who enlisted in The

Queen's Rangers in 1776 and served under General Sir William Howe, died while
participating in the defence of the city of New York against the insurrectionaries. His
property was confiscated by the revolutionary government, and his widow and her two
sons sought refuge in Canada, settling in what is now Thorold, Ontario. (Once there, my
great-great-great grandfather George changed the spelling of his name to Keefer.) No
compensation was ever paid to the family either by the state of New Jersey or by the
government of the United States.
The property in question consists of a farm and a distillery at Paulinskill, near
Newtown (now Newton), in Sussex County, New Jersey. I cannot tell you how aggrieved
I feel to think thatcontrary both to natural justice and the provisions of the peace
settlement of 1783the profits and the produce of my family's farm (and, more
importantly, our distillery) have for more than two centuries been enjoyed by lawless
revolutionaries and their heirs.
It is my understanding that the farm has been subdivided, and that among the
present inhabitants of my family's property there are officers of several American
corporations which have dealings in Canada. I expect that, in addition to whatever legal
action I myself might take under the provisions of your bill, prompt action will also be
taken by the government of Canada against these people.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Keefer