Federal archivists are citing concerns about the “safety of individuals” as one reason for withholding more than one million pages of records concerning suspected Nazi collaborators admitted to Canada following the Second World War, according to a newly disclosed briefing note.Blacklock's Reporter says the records remain secret despite an earlier federal commitment to release Holocaust-related files.Library and Archives Canada said the documents contain personal information and solicitor-client privileged information. Archivists also invoked Section 17 of the Access To Information Act, which permits federal institutions to withhold records when their disclosure could reasonably be expected to threaten an individual's safety.“We are awaiting the Office of the Information Commissioner’s final report on its investigation and will undertake the necessary steps as required,” said an April 21 briefing note.The Information Commissioner had no comment.B’nai Brith Canada and other groups have spent decades seeking the release of a confidential list of suspected Nazi collaborators compiled by the 1985 Deschenes Commission of Inquiry on War Crimes.The inquiry, headed by Québec Court of Appeal Justice Jules Deschenes, was the only Canadian investigation of its kind. Its confidential findings identified suspected Nazi collaborators who entered Canada and included recommendations concerning prosecution.Library and Archives Canada confirmed in its Comprehensive Expenditure Review briefing note that Part II of the commission's report remains entirely withheld.“A decision has been made to withhold the Part II report of the Deschenes Commission in its entirety,” said the note. “This decision was based on concerns regarding risk of harm to international relations.”Federal archivists have also said they do not know how many suspected Nazi collaborators identified in government records are still alive in Canada.“This could only be confirmed after a fulsome review of the records,” archivists wrote in a separate briefing note obtained in 2025.The note, Public Release Of Records About The Presence Of Nazi War Criminals In Canada, estimated the government possesses more than one million pages of relevant material.“These records are complex and varied and there is upwards of 1,000,000 pages of material likely including some material classified Top Secret,” said the note. “These records may contain information on investigations of individuals determined to be innocent.”.Canada has been a signatory to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance since 2009.The Berlin-based organization calls on member countries to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the opening of archives in order to ensure all documents bearing on the Holocaust are available to researchers.”Public attention returned to Canada's wartime records following a 2023 controversy in the House of Commons involving Yaroslav Hunka, then 98, of North Bay, Ont.Then-Speaker Anthony Rota introduced Hunka during a parliamentary visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and praised him as a man who had “fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians” during the Second World War.“He is a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service,” Rota told the Commons.It was subsequently confirmed Hunka had served with the 14th Waffen SS Grenadier Division during the Second World War.The Waffen SS was declared a criminal organization by the Nuremberg Tribunal, subject to exceptions recognized in the tribunal's judgment concerning membership and knowledge.Justice Deschenes wrote in the commission's publicly released report that Canadian officials knew about the division's history before allowing former members to enter the country.“Canadian authorities were fully aware in 1950 of the history of the division,” wrote Deschenes. “They knew.”
