Federal archivists are withholding more than one million pages of records concerning suspected Nazi collaborators admitted to Canada after the Second World War, with officials now citing the potential “safety of individuals” among the reasons for keeping documents secret.

According to a newly disclosed federal briefing note obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter, Library and Archives Canada has refused to release records from the 1985 Deschenes Commission of Inquiry on War Crimes, including a confidential list identifying suspected Nazi collaborators.

Officials have cited personal information, solicitor-client privilege, international relations and now Section 17 of the Access to Information Act, which permits records to be withheld where disclosure could reasonably be expected to threaten someone's safety.

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“A decision has been made to withhold the Part II report of the Deschenes Commission in its entirety,” said an April briefing note. Officials cited a “risk of harm to international relations.”

The Deschenes Commission, led by Quebec Court of Appeal Justice Jules Deschenes, investigated allegations that Nazi war criminals had entered Canada following the Second World War. Its confidential findings identified suspects and recommended cases for prosecution.

B’nai Brith Canada and Holocaust researchers have spent decades seeking the release of those records.

Library and Archives Canada previously acknowledged the sheer size of the collection in another briefing note obtained by Blacklock’s.

“These records are complex and varied and there is upwards of 1,000,000 pages of material likely including some material classified Top Secret,” officials wrote.

Archivists also said some records concern investigations of people ultimately determined to be innocent.

The secrecy surrounding Canada's Nazi-era history has previously collided with federal politics.

In 2017, then-Liberal cabinet minister Chrystia Freeland faced questions about her maternal grandfather, Michael Chomiak, who served as chief editor of Krakivski Visti, a Ukrainian-language newspaper operating under Nazi control in occupied Poland.

When reports about Chomiak's wartime activities emerged, Freeland responded by warning about Russian disinformation and efforts to destabilize Western democracies. However, reporting by the Ottawa Citizen's David Pugliese cited historical and archival evidence documenting Chomiak's role at the newspaper, which published antisemitic and pro-Nazi material.

Freeland later acknowledged that she had known about her grandfather's controversial wartime history.

The continued withholding of federal records also comes despite Canada's commitment as a member of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which calls on participating countries to facilitate the opening of archives so Holocaust-related documents are available to researchers.

Interest in Canada's Nazi war-crimes files intensified following the international embarrassment surrounding Parliament's 2023 recognition of Yaroslav Hunka.

Then-House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota introduced the 98-year-old Hunka as a “Ukrainian hero” and “Canadian hero” during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, prompting MPs and other dignitaries to give Hunka a standing ovation.

Canadian Parliament and Zelensky give a standing ovation to Yaroslav Hunka, who fought for the 14th division of the Waffen SS

pic.twitter.com/vtplp36hIA

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) September 24, 2023

Researchers subsequently identified Hunka as a former member of the 14th Waffen SS Grenadier Division. Rota resigned as Speaker following the controversy.

The Deschenes Commission's public report said Canadian authorities knew about the division's history when its members were being admitted to Canada.

“Canadian authorities were fully aware in 1950 of the history of the division,” Deschenes wrote. “They knew.”

There is no publicly confirmed number of suspected Nazi collaborators identified in the files who remain alive in Canada. Archivists have said determining that would require a full review of the records.