Federal Court upholds order to strip citizenship from Ontario man

A Federal Court judge has upheld the government's decision to strip citizenship from an Ontario man for lying about his Nazi ties when he came to Canada after the Second World War.

In a ruling Monday, Judge Michael Phelan dismissed a judicial review request and upheld the federal government's order to strip Helmut Oberlander of his Canadian citizenship, saying it met the proper legal tests.

Phelan said that it is important to preserve the integrity of Canadian citizenship from deceit and ensure there is no safe haven for people involved in horrendous historical events.

Oberlander, 84, has been fighting attempts to strip his citizenship and deport him for many years.

Ottawa's first attempt in 2001 to revoke Oberlander's citizenship was overturned by the courts in 2004, but the federal government drafted a new revocation order later in response to legal arguments raised the first time around.

Oberlander, a retired land developer from Waterloo, Ont., is alleged to have been a member of a Nazi death squad that executed thousands of civilians, mostly Jews, in German-occupied Ukraine during the Second World War.

Oberlander said he was conscripted into the unit, served only as translator and never participated in any killings.