The Canadian Parliament, meeting in special session, moved closer Thursday to amending the Criminal Code to allow for the prosecution of alleged Nazi war criminals residing in Canada.
The House of Commons approved a second reading of the bill, and promised a third and final reading by the end of August. Government leaders had hoped Parliament would pass the bill in a hurry before it recessed for the summer June 30, but couldn’t gain the unanimous approval needed to circumvent committee consideration.
The Thursday approval was welcomed by B’nai B’rith Canada. “We applaud the federal government for living up to its commitment to deal with this problem that has been a black mark on our nation’s history since World War II,” said Frank Dimant, executive vice president. Added David Matas, senior counsel for the League for Human Rights of B’nai B’rith Canada, “After 42 years we are relieved to be moving closer to seeing that provisions are in place to ensure that Nazi war criminals are brought to justice.
“To me, this was the real emergency to recall Parliament. It is important that justice be done before it’s too late. Once the legislation is passed, it is essential that prosecutions be launched immediately.”
The special session was called to deal with amendments to the nation’s immigration law. Passage of the Criminal Code amendment seems imminent.
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