Canada’s Jewish diaspora is taking federal archivists to court on their refusal to name Nazi war criminals who came to Canada. “History still needs to be fully told,” B’nai Brith wrote a federal judge.

.@BnaiBrithCanada sues fed archivists for secret blacklist of Nazi collaborators & war criminals let into Canada after 1945: "History still needs to be fully told," they told a federal judge.  https://t.co/gcsiMGfsq9 @LibraryArchives @ViraniArif @JusticeCanadaEN pic.twitter.com/2Q4Yn2tAi2

— Blacklock's Reporter (@mindingottawa) February 4, 2025

The court application alleges that Library and Archives Canada (LAC) “acted unreasonably and unlawfully in withholding information” under the Access To Information Act. 

B’nai Brith wants full disclosure of “all materials and communications with any foreign state” regarding the blacklist, Blacklock’s learned. The federal government has dodged all asks for decades.

Liberals and their enablers vote to hide Chrystia Freeland's grandad's name from being revealed as on the list of 900 suspected Nazis that came to Canada after WW2.

One of the most virulent anti-Israel NDP MPs, Niki Ashton, unironically brought this motion forward. She… pic.twitter.com/txnslAWW3s

— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) November 15, 2024

The Trudeau government repeatedly blocked disclosure of a war criminal blacklist where 98 known Nazi Party members immigrated to Canada in 1946. An additional 738 German prisoners of war also immigrated as labourers.

The feds would not capitulate to pressure from Conservatives and New Democrats, claiming it would aid Russia’s war in Ukraine. They also refused pleas from Canada’s Jewish diaspora, dating back to the 1980s.

The list originates from the 1985 Deschênes Commission on War Crimes, which found that Nazi collaborators entered Canada with inadequate background checks. A confidential list of suspects was compiled for prosecution but has remained secret for nearly 40 years.

Bloc Québécois MPs most recently voted with the Liberals last November to block their release by request of parliamentary motion.

Chrystia Freeland provides a vague answer when asked if the government will reopen a report to establish how many people who fought with the Nazis are currently in Canada. https://t.co/q3IGy1jPSt pic.twitter.com/2BKnpw9vOJ

— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) September 26, 2023

Researchers continue to seek an uncensored version of the Rodal Report, a 613-page document following the Commission. It provides “a key window into the history of the immigration of Nazi war criminals to Canada and Canada’s response.” 

B’nai Brith, as part of its legal challenge, seeks “all materials and communications with any department of the Government of Canada or any Member of Parliament” concerning the matter.

Only disclosures to date include a summary of confidential records last February 1 detailing the arrival of suspected war criminals, said Nazi War Criminals.

Lawyers for the federal archives have yet to file a statement of defence, reported Blacklock’s.

.@BnaiBrithCanada sues fed archivists for secret blacklist of Nazi collaborators & war criminals let into Canada after 1945: "History still needs to be fully told," they told a federal judge.  https://t.co/gcsiMGfsq9 @LibraryArchives @ViraniArif @JusticeCanadaEN pic.twitter.com/2Q4Yn2tAi2

— Blacklock's Reporter (@mindingottawa) February 4, 2025

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau justified the secrecy last February, citing privacy laws and concerns “around community cohesion,” with fear it would legitimize Russian claims that invading Ukraine amounts to a purge of Nazis.

“These decisions are ones that are taken responsibly and never lightly,” Trudeau added.

In 1967, then justice minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau chose not to revoke the citizenship of a former Nazi alleged to have killed 5,128 Jews by firing squad. He claimed the case “could not be established.”

Alti Rodal, researcher of the report, cautioned the individuals named are alleged to have committed war crimes. “They were not well researched let alone proven in a court,” she told the Globe and Mail.