Ottawa failed this country in Oberlander case

The Canadian government’s 26-year legal battle to deport Helmut Oberlander is over.

But when the end came this week, it was not because the authorities had once and for all ordered his expulsion for lying about his service in a notorious Nazi killing unit during the Second World War. It was not because Oberlander’s lawyers had finally persuaded federal officials to let him remain in Canada, either. No, it was the death of Oberlander himself at the age of 97 at his home in Waterloo that drew to a conclusion that decades-long struggle to remove him from this country.

Regardless of what people believe justice and human decency demanded in this case, its outcome is distinctly unsatisfying for everyone. While the federal government spent countless millions of dollars to address Oberlander’s involvement in some of the most heinous war crimes of the 20th century, it accomplished precious little for doing so.

What to do about Oberlander has long polarized the public, not only in Waterloo Region but across Canada. As grounds for leniency, supporters cited the fact he was a mere 17-year-old when he became caught up as an interpreter in Eastern Europe in history’s deadliest war. Yet his opponents stood firm in insisting that as a functioning cog in a ruthless killing-machine, that killed tens of thousands of Jews and other civilians, he deserved no place in Canada.

It is to their lawmakers and judicial system that Canadians turn for wisdom, justice and decisive action in such difficult, divisive cases. Regrettably, when it came to Oberlander the judicial and political processes failed. They simply took too long and never reached a resolution, one way or another.

To some degree, Oberlander’s relentless legal battle against deportation contributed to the delays. But a review of the actions by the federal government and the judiciary suggests a disturbing lack of commitment to end the affair. It was back in 1963 Ottawa learned of the allegations that Oberlander, who was living in Canada, had been party to war crimes. Twenty-three years passed before a federal inquiry recommended revoking his citizenship and another nine years before the government announced in 1995 its intent to take this step.

In 2000, Justice Andrew MacKay ruled Oberlander had, indeed, been an Einsatzgruppen death-squad member and lied about it to enter Canada in 1954. Between 2000 and 2017, the government revoked his citizenship four times. And while Oberlander won back his citizenship three times, he lost on the fourth attempt. Even so, two more years passed before the government said it would proceed with deportation and only in September of this year did the deportation hearing begin. In the wake of his death, what that hearing might have concluded is moot.

Yet if it does nothing else, the Oberlander case should convince Ottawa to become far more serious about war crimes and criminals. A 2020 report by the human rights group Amnesty International denounced Canada’s continuing failure to prosecute individuals who have come here and been accused of war crimes. For example, in the 20 years after the government enacted the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act in 2000, Canada prosecuted only two individuals, both linked to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The report also said the government needs to boost the War Crimes Program’s annual budget. It’s been stuck at $15 million since 1998.

Canadians will never know if this country would have placed an ailing Oberlander on a plane and sent him back to Europe. They should know their government is prepared to do so and spend far more to identify and expeditiously deal with any alleged war criminal who lands on our shores.