Hi,
I’ve tried to keep this blog focussed on issues that have to do with our local area, but this just bugs me too much!
Mr. Helmut Oberlander was found guilty today of of making a false statement on his application for Canadian citizenship in 1954. I believe 95% of the people who will read this were not even born back then.
So, our supreme court finds somebody guilty of lying 64 years ago. Because of that they decide to rescind his citizenship he has had for over half a century, thus enabling Canada to deport him to a country that now has nothing to do with the country he left those 64 years ago. Even for an issue as important as the Canadian citizenship there has to be something like a statute of limitation. According to the reports I have heard it was neither proven that he actually lied, nor that he commited crimes according to the laws of war. ( oxymoron I know! )
No I am not trying to excuse or protect a Nazi war criminal. I want to state a point on the value of Canadian citizenship! In this case, as far as I am concerned Mr. Oberlander has been a Canadian for way over half his life. If we feel we have to prosecute him for murder or war crmes, we have enough laws to do that. We don’t have to extradite our citizens for that. The only problem seems to be that these alleged crimes cannot be proven. Well be honest, how could they after 64 years? We had the Cold War, the Fall of the Berlin Wall, and a whole lot of other things in between.
I repeat again, I do not want to protect Nazis! I find them repulsive! We should not have one type of justice for alleged Nazis and one for other types of supposed perpetrator though. And to rescind a citizenship after 64 years is ridiculous and a waste of money, resources and injust. We have more pressing and current legal problems.
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