Court orders Ottawa to release details about resettlement of Nazi war criminals in Canada

Court orders Ottawa to release details about resettlement of Nazi war criminals in Canada MARIE WOOLF OTTAWA PUBLISHED 2 HOURS AGO COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Listen to this article Learn more about audio Log in or create a free account to listen to this article. The Federal Court has ordered the government to publish redacted portions of a report about the resettlement of Nazi war criminals in Canada through a secret CIA program after the Second World War. The court ruling is the result of legal action by B’nai Brith. The Jewish organization had challenged Ottawa’s decision to keep secret some details of American efforts to help Nazi collaborators enter Canada, contained in a report written 40 years ago. Open this photo in gallery: The cover of Alti Rodal's report, Nazi War Criminals in Canada: The Historical and Policy Setting from the 1940s to the Present. SUPPLIED Unless successfully appealed by the federal government, the ruling will lead to the removal of almost all the redactions in a report written by historian Alti Rodal for the 1985-86 Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals in Canada, headed by former Quebec judge Jules Deschênes. The commission investigated allegations that Canada had become a safe haven for Nazi war criminals. Most of Ms. Rodal’s report had already been made public, with further declassified details released in 2024. The Federal Court judgment, issued Tuesday, relates to a section dealing with “irregularities in resettlement of defectors and former agents.” That portion has never been fully disclosed “despite its age and historical importance,” the ruling said. Judge Simon Fothergill wrote that his considerations had included “the importance of the historical record” and ”the passage of time” in making his decision. Historians welcomed the court ruling, saying it would help shed more light on the role American intelligence agencies played in facilitating the settlement of Nazi collaborators in Canada, some using false identities and documentation. The report found that Nazi collaborators who had aided the United States, including by providing information, were assisted in entering Canada by the Research and Resettlement Branch of the United States Army in Europe (USAREUR). The Rodal report said USAREUR was then a cover organization for the Central Intelligence Agency and other such U.S. agencies. The U.S. Army organization admitted that some of its informants had criminal records, including a number arising…