Who are Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals protecting, by refusing to release a secret blacklist of 20 Nazi fugitives that escaped justice and fled like cowards into Canada’s welcoming arms?.Those who blindly — or sympathizers who willfully — let 200 to 2,000 Nazi fugitives into Canada after 1950?.The reputation of former Liberal prime minister Louis St. Laurent (1948-57) whose government let them in after casual background checks? Who?.The 20 were identified as among the worst who left behind a trail of atrocities and death during the Second World War. A 1985 Commission of Inquiry on War Crimes led by Quebec Court of Appeal Justice Jules Deschenes said 200 Nazis slipped into Canada and recommended that 20 be prosecuted..The House of Commons erupted Thursday with cries of “fascists” as some MPs demanded disclosure of the list..This came on the heels of Governor General Mary Simon expressing “deep regret” this week in a written statement about the appointment of Peter Savaryn to the Order of Canada in 1987.. Peter SavarynPeter Savaryn was the twelfth Chancellor of the University of Alberta, holding the position from 1982 to 1986. .The Order of Canada membership is effective only during the honoree’s lifetime. But he also received Golden Jubilee and Diamond Jubilee medals that can be rescinded..Savaryn died in 2017. Despite his dark past, Canada afforded great opportunity and an escape from scrutiny or punishment. He served as chancellor of the University of Alberta from 1982 to 1986. He was president of Alberta’s Progressive Conservative party in the 80s..Savaryn was exposed by Forward, a Jewish news organization, as a Western Ukrainian member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS formed in Western Ukraine in the early 40s. Forward said 2,000, not 200, Nazis found refuge in Canada..Commonly known as SS Galicia, the unit — accused of war crimes including burning alive up hundreds of Polish villagers in the 1944 Huta Pieniacka massacre — was armed, trained, and commanded by Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich..It’s critical to remember that most Ukrainians fought with the allied forces against Hitler. And that most Germans ordered to fight in a war they didn’t want, weren’t all Nazis..But the 1946 Nuremberg International Tribunal deemed Galicia SS a criminal organization responsible for mass atrocities. But hey, welcome to Canada!.Yaroslav Hunka, 98, who had the audacity to sit in the House last month and accept standing ovations from all MPs in a display that utterly disgraced Canada, was also a member of SS Galicia..This triggered international outrage. House Speaker Anthony Rota, who hailed Hunka as a hero, resigned and was the only one held accountable..Yet the Liberals, who apologized ever-so-profusely, still dance around the issue of exposing war criminals..Ontario Liberal MP Yvan Baker shamefully tried to draw on emotion and prevailing anti-Russian sentiment by tying to connect the current Russia-Ukraine war to the Second World War and the Holocaust when the Russians fought with allies against Hitler..“Vladimir Putin as we speak is committing war crimes in Ukraine. It is really, really important that we stay united in supporting the people of Ukraine,” the chair of Parliament’s Canada-Ukraine Friendship Group told reporters..He wouldn’t answer a question on whether he supported releasing the blacklist that has been censored by the Privy Council under the Access to Information Act..“Just release it, fascist,” Ontario New Democrat MP Matthew Green shouted in the House..“We cannot learn the lessons from the past and heal if the Liberal government is intent on keeping secrets safe,” said Green..Attorney General Arif Virani said Canada has a “dark history with respect to Nazis” and that disclosure was being considered, according to Blacklock’s Reporter..The Privy Council Office is reviewing the blacklist “will be making recommendations soon on the options that are available,” he said..What options?.Immigration Minister Marc Miller, who claimed he hasn’t seen Deschene’s secret list, said there is no excuse to delay its release. He pointed to those on it who still might be alive as entitled to “presumptive due process they are entitled to.”.Ridiculous. The federal government has had almost four decades to figure out who not to wrongly accuse..What about the due process Germans who emigrated to Canada, those who opposed the Nazis, deserve to have their names cleared of any affiliation?.What about the due process — openness — Second World War victims and their surviving families deserve?.It started with Hitler’s invasion of Poland in September 1939..It ended with 70 to 85 million dead (military, civilian and deaths due to famine and disease) in the world’s worst military conflict to date..The dead toll included six million Jews who Hitler diabolically murdered — shot, starved, sent to concentration camps where they were experimented on and exterminated in gas chambers he ordered built to carry out his Final Solution. The Jews, gypsies and disabled didn’t fit into his demonic vision of creating a superior Aryan race..This week an amazing granite monument to the 158 Canadian soldiers who died in the Afghanistan war was unveiled in Amherst NS. They are honoured and remembered as they should be..But what about the 1.1 million Canadians who fought in the Second World War? More than 44,000 died and 55,000 were wounded. What about honouring them by not protecting the identity of the Nazis that sought refuge in Canada?.The Soviet Union lost 27 million soldiers and civilians..The Germans were victims too. German casualty reports differ. The most accepted estimate is 7.7 million soldiers and civilians killed, including 200,000 disabled civilians Hitler’s forces euthanized..But the Liberals guard the blacklist, fervently hoping the issue will go away. It won’t..And if the Liberals don’t do the right thing, Rota shouldn’t be the only political casualty..Why? By sitting on that secret list, the Liberals are grievously disrespecting an international pact and millions of people..Liberal appointed Senator Paula Simons said Cabinet “must mandate the disclosure of all Holocaust-related records in its possession.”.She pointed out that Canada signed on to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (HRA) headquartered in Berlin. Thus, it has an obligation to name Nazi fugitives let into Canada..The HRA’s declaration states: “We share a commitment to throw light on the still obscured shadows of the Holocaust. We will take all necessary steps to facilitate the opening of archives in order to ensure all documents bearing on the Holocaust are available to researchers.”.Here the Trudeau government goes again, alienating Canada’s allies by ignoring a pact and trying to appease critics with a vague promise about looking into it..Well, Deschenes already did that when he critically pointed to a 1950 cabinet order that allowed Waffen SS members into Canada after conducting hasty, incomplete background checks..“Canadian authorities were fully aware in 1950 of the history of the division. They knew where these members came from and what they had been through,” he wrote..They knew it them — and the Liberals know it now. Enough with the stalling and flimsy excuses.
