Canada’s new Solicitor General Robert Kaplan said today that he was satisfied that war crimes charges can be proven against some Canadian residents and that he will seek legal frameworks for such action.
Kaplan spoke to reporters after a meeting in Washington yesterday with Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal, director of the war crimes documentation center in Vienna, and with U.S. government officials. Wiesenthal refused to come to Canada because of alleged government inaction against war criminals living there. Kaplan said he promised that the government would be more cooperative in the future. “I am satisfied there are witnesses and war crimes could be proved,” he said.
He would not estimate the number of suspected war criminals in Canada and admitted that he has not yet discussed the problem with Premier Pieme Elliott Trudeau. But, according to Kaplan, an agreement exists among all parties for some action.
He stressed that he wanted to avoid witch-hunts and thought that an investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police would be premature. He said the Canadian War Crimes Act could conceivably be invoked but that it poses problems of a technical nature. Asked what alter legislation could be employed, Kaplan replied, “ask me in about three months.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
