After spending the last seven years living in sanctuary in a Vancouver church, U.S. Army veteran and war resister Rodney Watson joined New Democrat MP Jenny Kwan on Saturday to renew his appeal for resisters like him to be legally allowed to stay in Canada.

Watson and Kwan were joined by members of the B.C. NDP in calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to reverse a policy implemented by the previous Conservative government.

It classified war resisters as criminals that were not eligible for residency in Canada under a policy called Operational Bulletin 202.

"This is not a game, this is not a joke for me at all," Watson said from First United Church and addressed Trudeau directly.

"I can see it in your eyes that you have far more compassion in your heart for than Stephen Harper had, or ever had for any war resister."

About 200 U.S. soldiers who fled the Iraq war came to Canada, and the policy reads that because deserting the military is a crime, war resisters may not be eligible for asylum.

Now, Kwan, MP for Vancouver East, is calling on the Trudeau government to do away with the policy saying it is unfair to people like Watson.

"He served in the Iraq war and when he left, he was being recalled to go back, and what he saw was something that prevented him from going back," she said "He is a conscientious objector, he believes strongly in having done the right thing in refusing to go back."

Rodney Watson has been living in a Vancouver church for seven years after refusing to return to Iraq as part of the U.S. military. (CBC)

Watson said he deserted because of racial hatred he witnessed against Iraqis during his first tour of duty.

He has a son with a Canadian woman, but says he has never seen the boy outside of his makeshift church home.

"His first steps were in this building while I was in sanctuary, I haven't been able to go to school to see his first day at school," said Watson.

Canada is estimated to have accepted around 50,000 conscientious objectors fleeing conscription during the Vietnam War, including Dr. Michael Klein, who was recently awarded the Order of Canada.

Dr. Michael Klein, who came to Canada during the Vietnam war says Canada showed much more compassion then for conscientious objectors and should return to those ways. (CBC)

"It was a much more compassionate time," he said. "We received landed immigrant status at Dorval airport in 20 minutes."

"We were embraced in Canada, we've made our life here, our children were born here, and we made contributions, we cannot understand why things have changed so dramatically."

The federal government did not provide comment to CBC News about calls to do away with Operational Bulletin 202, but there is a September 16 deadline to decide if it will continue to pursue American conscientious objectors living in Canada.

Presser support US Iraq war resister Rodney Watson & others. Calling Liberal govt do the right thing <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cdnpoli?src=hash">#cdnpoli</a> <a href="https://t.co/FXi8j6UDma">pic.twitter.com/FXi8j6UDma</a> —@JennyKwanBC

with files from Angela Sterritt.