TORONTO — American soldiers who fled to Canada rather than fight in Iraq joined activists and a Liberal backbencher on Friday to urge the government of Justin Trudeau to end legal action against them and grant them residency status.“I’m shocked and dismayed that it’s still going on,” former U.S. Marine Cpl. Dean Walcott, 34, who came to Canada in 2006, told a news conference.Walcott, who lives with his wife and Canadian-born children in Peterborough, Ont., is one of four American soldiers whose cases are due in Federal Court in September. Activists say the litigation is going forward even though Trudeau expressed support for the war dodgers during last year’s election campaign and told The Canadian Press earlier this year that his government was actively looking into the issue.His wife, Ashlea, choked back tears as she described the stress of not knowing whether they and their three Canadian-born children — aged 8, 6, and 3 — will be forced to leave their home in Port Colborne, Ont., and return to the U.S. to face a possible court martial.“We came to Canada to save his life,” Ashlea Brockway said. “Canada is our home and is the only home our children have known.”Following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, scores of American soldiers opted to come to Canada rather than fight a war they saw as without justification. The former Conservative government under Stephen Harper essentially branded them as criminalsSome were forced to return to the U.S. About two dozen are still in Canada fighting for status.Former CBC radio host Andy Barrie, an American military deserter, lent his voice to the cause, describing how he came to Canada in 1969 and was granted permanent residence status immediately.