Court says Toronto resident not involved in war crimes (03/25/01)

Court says Toronto resident not involved in war crimes

Odynsky threatened with denaturalization/deportation due to "false representation"

TORONTO - Toronto resident Wasyl Odynsky was found on March 2 not to have been involved in any war crimes during the second world war by Judge Andrew MacKay of the Federal Court of Canada, who noted "there was no evidence at trial that Mr. Odynsky participated personally in any incident involving mistreatment of prisoners or of any other person during his service."

Furthermore, Justice MacKay found that "there is no doubt that Mr. Odynsky's service was not voluntary." The judge also urged Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Elinor Caplan to consider that Mr. Odynsky has also been a good citizen since he arrived in Canada, more than 50 years ago, as testified to by members of his church and community.

The only finding made by the judge (whose ruling came earlier this month) that went against Mr. Odynsky was with respect to the matter of his screening by Canadian immigration and security officials prior to his emigration to Canada in 1949.

Although acknowledging that it is possible that Mr. Odynsky's "memory of his experience when he applied to Canada is an accurate depiction of what happened," the judge was not convinced that it was a full account, and so found that, "on the balance of probabilities," it is "more probable than not that Mr. Odynsky did not truthfully answer questions that were put to him concerning his wartime experience."

Because of that, the judge ruled that Mr. Odynsky "obtained citizenship in Canada by false representation or by knowingly concealing material circumstances," which means Minister Caplan could recommend to the Cabinet that Mr. Odynsky be denaturalized and deported.

Mr. Odynsky has maintained his assertion that he was never asked questions about his involuntary service as a member of an auxiliary guard unit in Nazi-occupied Ukraine.

Commenting on this finding, the chairman of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association, John B Gregorovich, said: "The learned judge has made it clear that Mr. Odynsky was not a war criminal, was not a Nazi, and did not participate in any war crimes or atrocities. Under duress he had to serve in a guard unit during the war years. He is, in that respect, no different from any Jewish kapo who, likewise, had no choice but to work for his captors."

He further noted that "Mr. Justice MacKay found, on a balance of probabilities, that Mr. Odynsky may have obtained his citizenship by not telling Canadian immigration officials, a half-century ago, about his wartime experiences is probably the only finding that the judge could have come to, given the evidence presented in the hearing room."

Nonetheless, Mr. Gregorovich commented, "we must now ask: wouldn't it be a cruel and unusual punishment to denaturalize and deport a good citizen against whom, as the judge found, there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that he personally was involved in any wrongdoing?"

"We urge members of our community and other Canadians to write to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, the Honorable Elinor Caplan, and to your own MP, recommending that no further action be taken against Mr. Odynsky," he continued.

"That an innocent man should have been subjected to the emotional and financial traumas that he and his family have endured for some three years is proof enough of just how unfair the current policy is for dealing with how alleged war criminals allegedly found in Canada should be brought to justice," he wrote.

"We maintain that the government should bring these cases into Canadian criminal courts, where the rules of evidence are far more vigorous. What we are instead seeing is how naturalized Canadian citizens are, in fact, being treated as second-class citizens, for no Canadian-born citizen would ever be forced to defend himself against such allegations without all of the protections provided for in criminal court trials," the chairman concluded.

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