A U.S. soldier told a group of Fredericton peace activists Thursday that he deserted the army and came to Canada after he refused to fight in Iraq.

Corey Glass signed up for the National Guard when he was 19, but he said he never expected to go overseas. After serving a term in Iraq, he said he wasn't willing to go back.

'[Army officials] stopped by my parents' place to try to find me ... they must have gotten hold of my stuff that I'd left [behind] and started calling numbers they found.'-Corey Glass

Glass said he tried to quit when the army told him he was going back to Iraq, but he was told that wasn't possible.

He deserted the army and spent seven months in hiding in the U.S. before coming to Canada.

"[Army officials] stopped by my parents' place to try to find me," he said. "Somehow they must have gotten hold of my stuff that I'd left [behind] and started calling numbers they found."

Glass, who spoke about his experiences in Iraq Thursday night in Fredericton, has been travelling across Canada on a speaking tour.

His audience in Fredericton consisted of members of the general public, and members of the Peace Coalition, the Citizens' Press and the University of New Brunswick/St. Thomas Social Justice Society.

Graham Cox, an editor with the Citizens' Press, said desertion hasn't been an issue for the Canadian military, but he said it's important for Canadians to hear from soldiers who decide they don't want to fight.

He also said it's possible that Canadian soldiers will desert in the future because the war in Afghanistan is unpopular here.

"I certainly know that the majority of Canadians don't support the war," he said. "So I think there would be support for deserters or resisters of that war."

Glass said he's not sure how long he will stay in Canada. He feels safe here, and said it's risky for him to return home.

The maximum punishment for desertion in the U.S. is death.