Lies and citizenship

[allhatnocattle]

Canada strips two men of their citizenship. I didn't know we did this. Since 1977, Canada has stripped 54 people of citizenship. Seven of those cases related to the Second World War.

I'm interested if anyone knows how the cases of Oberlander and Fast came to the attention of the authorities. This article indicates that at least Oberlander has been

Comments

[kali_kali]

It goes without saying that having an uptight Conservative government has something to do with it.

I'm not sure if you're meaning that quote to refer to the citizenship revokation of Oberlander and Fast, but I can assure you that their cases have absolutely nothing to do with the Conservative government (this one at least), these cases have been going on for decades.

I don't know the details on these cases in specific, but the whole commission to prosecute alleged war criminals has been frought with problems from the outset with the Deschenes Commission. Names were provided either with speculation (the Commission started over the allegation that Nazi doctor Joseph Mengele was in the country, which he wasn't), and quite a few of them supplied by the Soviet government, who had an interest in making the lives of those who had worked against it difficult.

The cases have nothing to do with proving whether or not any of the men in the cases (not just those two, but several others as well) were war criminals (a lot of the evidence brought forth to the effect of such links is speculation at best), it tries to prove that these men lied to get into Canada (which, as you say, many did and many still do) - and I've heard many of the original immigration records have been destroyed, so there may not even be a way to consult such documents. It doesn't mean they are war criminals, since that is not what the trials were about. Could they be? Maybe. But also maybe not.

I don't have the time right now to elaborate on much, but I'll be back tonight for more elaboration.

[allhatnocattle]

Thanks.
The Jewish Tribune article (granted it's a few years old) targets 4 alleged Nazi collaborators, including these two, calling for their citizenships to be revoked. They blame a lack of political will, which would have been Liberal at the time of the article.

Liberals are, well, liberal in thought and deed. As such they would be more likely to forgive and forget decades old war criminals that have been otherwise law abiding citizens, at least in their time spent here. Conservatives on the other hand are conservative and as such are more uptight about such things.

This was a government decision involving at the very least Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Immigration Minister Diane Finley. Andrew Telegdi, a Liberal MP from Waterloo who has long demanded a complete reworking of the Citizenship Act, said the federal cabinet shouldn't be involved in citizenship issues such as Oberlander's. "This is a total abuse of power," he said. "No politician should have that type of power."

[kdborg]

Liberals would want anyone accused of a war crime to face punishment. If that meant someone losing Canadian citizenship, so be it!

[mijopo]

Really, did you read this in the liberal rule book?

[kdborg]

Is it in the conservative rule book to think that liberals believe murders should be set free?

[allhatnocattle]

No, but I can cite several instances off the top of my head where the Liberal Party was clearly in the wrong. Should I start ranting about it or do you trust me?

[kali_kali]

I could go on for hours about these situations, as you can tell by some of my comments. I agree with Telegdi, and he understands the situation for what it really is, because he himself was a refugee from Eastern Europe.

I want to see fair trials, where people are treated as innocent until proven guilty. I also want to see those responsible for crimes against humanity in from everywhere in the world be brought to justice as well. I'm sure there are at least a few former Soviet perpetrators of crimes against humanity living in Canada. They should be punished as well, but I have yet to hear of such trials (if someone else has though, I would love to hear about them). Justice needs to be applied equally across the board.