More details from unsealed report on Nazi war criminals in Canada released by federal government

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OTTAWA — The federal authorities has launched beforehand categorized particulars from a report that outlines the extent to which Canada supplied a protected haven to former Nazis throughout the Chilly Battle.

Ottawa confronted renewed requires larger transparency in regards to the presence of conflict criminals in Canada after parliamentarians inadvertently gave two standing ovations final fall to a person who fought in a Nazi unit within the Second World Battle.

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Yaroslav Hunka, who fought for the Waffen-SS Galicia Division, a voluntary unit created by the Nazis to assist battle the Soviet Union, was welcomed to the Home of Commons final fall to listen to a speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The report by researcher Alti Rodal, often known as the Rodal report, was ready as a part of a Fee of Inquiry on Battle Criminals in Canada in 1985 and was meant to offer the fee with data on the historic insurance policies and circumstances that led to the presence of Nazi conflict criminals in Canada.

It was initially launched below the Entry to Info Act in closely censored type in 1987, and extra particulars had been made public final summer time in response to a Freedom of Info request by B’nai Brith Canada.

The newly launched and almost full model makes 15 beforehand categorized pages public, the immigration minister’s director of communications, Aissa Diop, stated in an announcement Thursday.

“Whereas extra data that’s now not delicate as a result of passage of time can now be launched, some data nonetheless stays protected in accordance with the Entry to Info Act and the Privateness Act,” Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada stated in a information launch Thursday.

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There aren’t any people recognized within the newly launched model of the doc, however it does embrace data Canada obtained in confidence from overseas governments, particulars beforehand protected below solicitor shopper privilege, in addition to data that may hurt worldwide affairs and the enforcement of Canadian legal guidelines, Diop stated.

“Those that suffered below Nazi Germany and their descendants need transparency in the case of this shameful chapter in our historical past,” Immigration Minister Marc Miller stated in an announcement Thursday.

Rodal’s report concludes that within the decade following the conflict, there was “ample alternative” for conflict criminals and Nazi collaborators to enter Canada.

B’nai Brith Canada has advocated for the discharge of the complete doc because the Eighties, and filed a number of requests below Entry to Info Legal guidelines prior to now yr, which the group says the federal government repeatedly denied.

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“We welcome this virtually full disclosure of the Rodal Report,” David Matas, who represented the group throughout the fee, stated in an announcement Wednesday.

Although it has been 79 years because the Second World Battle and 37 years since Rodal’s work was accomplished, Matas stated ongoing mass atrocities and efforts by perpetrators to hunt haven in Canada lend up to date relevance to the report.

“We can’t be taught from the previous except we all know the previous. The virtually full disclosure of the Rodal Report is a crucial step in coming to grips with our previous and making use of its classes for the current,” he stated.

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