Ukrainian community in Canada campaigns against Sher appointment (05/10/98)

Ukrainian community in Canada campaigns against Sher appointment

by Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj
Toronto Press Bureau

OTTAWA - Following the appointment of former OSI Director Neal Sher as a consultant to Canada's War Crimes Section on December 12, 1997, the country's Ukrainian community generated considerable heat.

An information campaign was coordinated from the UCC's Toronto branch and from the UCC's national headquarters in Winnipeg. Over 25,000 pieces of correspondence were directed at various members of Parliament, senators and government officials following Mr. Sher's appointment.

This campaign led directly to the request by Official Opposition's Justice Critic Jack Ramsay that the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights call Mr. Sher as a witness and review the reasons and justifications of retaining him.

However, only a handful of Ukrainian community members attended the April 28 hearing, and at least 20 of the chairs reserved for observers stood empty.

UCC Justice Committee on Denaturalization and Deportation (JCDD) Chair John Petryshyn, a Winnipeg-based lawyer, did not attend the hearings, nor did any senior UCC representative.

Reached in Winnipeg following the hearing, Mr. Petryshyn said, "we submitted questions in advance to Mr. MacKay and Mr. Ramsay, and we asked members of the community to attend to see what matters needed follow-up."

"Three MPs referred to the many letters, postcards and e-mails that actually caused the hearing to be called, so I think that's quite satisfactory," Mr. Petryshyn said.

The immigration attorney said he was impressed with Mr. Ramsay's efforts, particularly in having contacted Judge Gilbert Merritt, the Cleveland judge who found the U.S. Office of Special Investigations had committed fraud during its prosecution of John Demjanjuk.

The JCDD chair said that a conference call of his committee's members would be conducted on May 6 to examine what further avenues can be pursued based on the testimony given at the hearing, and that a press release would be issued.

The April 28 hearing was attended by five of the Canadian Jewish Committee's leading representatives, led by Toronto CJC President Bernie Farber. Prior to the session, Mr. Farber handed committee members a CJC communiqué in which the umbrella body "strongly reaffirmed its endorsement of the federal government decision to engage ... [Mr.] Sher."

CJC War Crimes Committee Chair Prof. Irving Abella is quoted in the communiqué as saying that his organization "for years ... advocated the hiring of expert outside counsel to deal with the unique and complex aspects of Nazi war crimes cases from a fresh perspective."

Prof. Abella, also a national past president of the CJC, added that, "with his years of experience, the government could not have made a better choice than Mr. Sher when it decided to retain such an advisor."

Also quoted was the CJC's general counsel and executive director, Jack Silverstone, who commented that the hiring of Mr. Sher "provided one more indication that the federal government understands the need for urgent action in the few years we have remaining to rid Canada of the perpetrators of the most heinous crimes in human history."

Mr. Silverstone's statement concludes: "Mr. Sher's efforts should effectively complement the good work currently emanating from the Justice Department's war crimes unit."

A look at Canada's war crimes unit