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Stewart's trip to N.S. turns into a pumpkin

Jail record squashes media mogul's plan to ride in vegetable

By MICHAEL DEN TANDT

Thursday, October 6, 2005

OTTAWA -- The system couldn't prevent failed refugee claimant Harjit Singh from dodging deportation for 16 years. It couldn't stop two daughters of a hard-line Syrian general from making brief trips to Canada to give birth so their children could be Canadian citizens.

But domestic diva Martha Stewart, who was to have visited Nova Scotia this weekend to row a giant pumpkin across a lake to raise money for the Children's Wish Foundation, had no such luck.

"I was all set, the plane reservations were made, our crew was ready to go and then I got a call that it is very important that someone with my legal status right now . . . have a special visa to enter Canada, and there's no way for me to get the visa by Saturday," she said yesterday on her television show, Martha.

Ms. Stewart was to have been a guest of pumpkin farmer Howard Dill, who is famous in Windsor, N.S., and world famous in pumpkin circles, for having developed the heaviest pumpkins on Earth. He has grown one weighing 444 kilograms.

Windsor's annual Pumpkin Regatta features local luminaries, politicians and others paddling across Lake Pesaquid, a Halifax-area lake, in hollowed-out giant pumpkins.

"I think it's pretty shitty," a disappointed Mr. Dill said yesterday of the rule that prevents anyone with a criminal record from entering Canada on a visitor's visa. Such entrants typically must apply for a temporary residency permit, either at the border or at a Canadian embassy.

Mr. Dill said the producers of Ms. Stewart's show approached him in August about the visit. Earlier this week, excitement in the town, population 3,778, had reached a fever pitch, he said. "Everything was all in high gear to see it through, the town was getting prepared, the RCMP was meeting to arrange parking and directing traffic."

At 5 p.m. Monday, however, Ms. Stewart's producers called with the bad news. "Somebody fouled up," said Mr. Dill, 71, who has been breeding giant pumpkins for 40 years.

Immigration Minister Joe Volpe promised outside the House of Commons yesterday that, should Ms. Stewart apply for a special permit to enter Canada despite her criminal record, "we'll move as expeditiously as possible." He added: "That would be a good thing."

Public Works Minister Scott Brison, who hails from Nova Scotia and prides himself on his use of puns, said the Liberals risked being "gourd" if the government fails to allow Ms. Stewart into Canada to attend the pumpkin regatta.

However, Ms. Stewart appeared to hold out little hope yesterday that her trip could be salvaged. "So, I'm very sorry Nova Scotia, I'm sorry Children's Wish Foundation and I'm especially sorry Howard Dill that I won't be able to ride in one of those crazy pumpkin bateaus."

Stephen Heckbert, a spokesman for Mr. Volpe, said it's against policy to comment on individual immigration cases. But he hinted that Ms. Stewart's visit would be speedily approved, should she choose to apply for a permit. "In a lot of cases, the department does what it can to expedite cases, given the time-sensitive nature of it."