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.<\/p>\n
The court ruling is the result of legal action by B\u2019nai Brith. The Jewish organization had challenged Ottawa\u2019s decision to keep secret some details of American efforts to help Nazi collaborators enter Canada, contained in a report written 40 years ago.<\/p>\n
Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n The cover of Alti Rodal’s report, Nazi War Criminals in Canada: The Historical and Policy Setting from the 1940s to the Present.Supplied<\/p>\n 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 Desch\u00eanes. The commission investigated allegations that Canada had become a safe haven for Nazi war criminals.<\/p>\n Most of Ms. Rodal\u2019s 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 \u201cirregularities in resettlement of defectors and former agents.\u201d That portion has never been fully disclosed \u201cdespite its age and historical importance,\u201d the ruling said.<\/p>\n Judge Simon Fothergill wrote that his considerations had included \u201cthe importance of the historical record\u201d and \u201dthe passage of time\u201d in making his decision. <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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).<\/p>\n 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 from cases involving moral turpitude \u2013 the category under which Nazi collaborators were listed. <\/p>\n