OTTAWA - A British MP barred from Canada is considering suing the federal government for having branded him a terrorist.
Lawyers for George Galloway say he has contacted civil litigation attorneys and been advised that he could win financial damages in a defamation suit.
The Harper government says the five-time MP is inadmissible to Canada because he engaged in terrorism and was a member of a group that engaged in terrorism.
That charge is apparently based on the fact that Galloway delivered humanitarian goods to war-torn Gaza and gave $45,000 to the Hamas government.
Hamas is a banned terrorist organization in Canada.
Galloway's lawyers are already challenging the entry ban in Federal Court, and they say he has also spoken with other attorneys about a civil suit.
"I know for a fact that he had consulted with lawyers and they told him he has grounds," said Hadayt Nazami, a Toronto lawyer on Galloway's legal team.
Galloway has won at least two defamation suits in the past.
A spokesman for Galloway said lawyers are "absolutely" working on a defamation case, and now trying to establish whether the government could defend itself by invoking privilege.
The federal government advised Galloway in a letter last week that he could not enter Canada because he violated provisions 34.1 (c) and 34.1 (f) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
That first provision says someone can be barred from Canada for "engaging in terrorism." The second says someone can be barred for "being a member of an organization" that engages in terrorism.
Galloway says he not only doesn't belong to Hamas, but he wouldn't even support its political faction if he could vote in Palestinian elections.
However, his opponents have pointed to his repeated, virulent criticisms of the Israeli state and cast him as anti-Jewish.
The Jewish Defamation League of Canada sent two cabinet ministers a letter last week declaring Galloway a "hater" and urging that he be kept out.
The next day, the Canada Border Services Agency declared Galloway would be inadmissible.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced the decision later in the week and said he would not use his ministerial power to overturn it. Kenney said he did not ask the CBSA to rule the way it did.
Galloway bristles at the accusation of anti-Semitism and last year successfully sued a London radio station for making the charge, forcing the station to shut down.
He also successfully sued -- and was awarded over $350,000 Cdn in damages from -- a London newspaper that accused him of profiting from the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq.
In policy debates, Galloway has frequently sided with Israel's most bitter enemies. But he says he's not anti-Jewish and, on his radio phone-in show, has chastised callers for making anti-Semitic remarks.
He was to visit Canada for a three-city speaking tour organized by anti-war activists. He is currently in the United States on a similar tour.
Galloway's supporters say he will still attempt to cross the border, likely on Monda
