“It clearly shows that Edmonton police and the Crown prosecutor’s office ... are lacking, grossly, in historical knowledge.”
by Taylor C. Noakes
November 28, 2024 ∙
Graphic assembled by The Maple staff.
Edmonton police and the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service have charged journalist Duncan Kinney for allegedly vandalizing a Waffen SS monument under an offence seemingly intended to protect cenotaphs honouring Canadian war veterans.
Kinney vehemently denies the allegations and is contesting the charges in court.
It is likely the first time a Canadian journalist has been charged with vandalizing a war memorial, as well as the first time anyone has been charged with vandalizing a memorial to Canada’s wartime enemies.
The charge – “mischief relating to war memorials” – which carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence, seems to have been intended to punish vandalism of cenotaphs and monuments dedicated to Canada’s war dead.
The Criminal Code specifies that the charge relates to “mischief in relation to property that is a building, structure or part thereof that primarily serves as a monument to honour persons who were killed or died as a consequence of a war, including a war memorial or cenotaph […].”
The monument in question, located in St. Michael’s Cemetery in north Edmonton, honours Ukrainian veterans of the SS “Galicia Division,” which fought on the side of Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
Kinney was also arrested and charged in October 2022 with one count of mischief for allegedly spray painting the words “Actual Nazi” on a statue of Roman Shukhevych, a Ukrainian nationalist and Nazi collaborator responsible for the extermination of tens of thousands of Poles and Jews during the Second World War.
Edmonton police allege the incident took place on Aug. 10, 2021, the same day the monument in St. Michael’s Cemetery was similarly vandalized with the words “Nazi Monument 14th Waffen SS.”
Kinney is represented by Edmonton lawyer Tom Engel and vehemently denies both charges, arguing that they are a deliberate attempt by the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) to intimidate and silence him.
A prominent critic of the Edmonton police, Kinney has reported on numerous matters of police misconduct, as well as the difficulties he has encountered in trying to do his job. Alluding to those difficulties, Kinney described EPS Chief Dale McFee’s demeanour towards him as “hostile, dismissive, sarcastic, and evasive” in court documents.
Though Kinney had previously received media accreditation with EPS, beginning in February 2022 he alleged that he faced numerous and often arbitrary obstacles that have denied him access to police press briefings.
In addition, Edmonton police have not been forthcoming with documents that Kinney said are necessary for his defence.
Lawyer Tom Engel believes Kinney is being persecuted for criticizing the police, and not for allegedly vandalizing a monument.
“When you look at the investigation and the resources poured into it by the EPS, you have to ask yourself the question: ‘why would they devote such scarce police resources to an investigation like this?’ And the only reasonable explanation is because they targeted him,” said Engel in an interview with The Maple.
“He was identified, in my opinion, as an enemy of Chief McFee and the Edmonton Police Service.”
According to Engel, Kinney and his immediate family had been the subject of extensive police surveillance. Kinney has accused EPS of spying on him.
Engel said the initial investigation was handled by the EPS’ investigative response team, which he characterized as being designed to handle complex cases.
“They basically decided they would close the file because there didn’t appear to be any point in investigating any further,” said Engel. “And then it mysteriously resurfaces and it goes to the hate crimes unit. The officer there spent many hours investigating it, including surveilling Duncan and his wife and kid.”
Engel is incredulous that so much time and effort would be exhausted investigating a case of petty vandalism, let alone the alleged spray painting of a memorial to members of the Waffen SS.
“Normally it would involve a patrol constable,” said Engel. “Like somebody gets a swastika painted on their fence [...] (the police) are not going to go very far in trying to investigate it.”
Several other monuments to SS volunteers and other organizations complicit in Nazi war crimes have been defaced across Canada.
Engel thinks it may be the first time a charge meant to protect war memorials honouring Canadians has been used to try to prosecute an individual for allegedly defacing a monument to Canada’s war time enemies.
According to journalist and author Peter McFarlane, the Edmonton Galicia Division monument that Kinney is alleged to have vandalized was created thanks to the efforts of Waffen SS veteran Peter Savaryn, and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland’s maternal grandfather, Michael Chomiak, who voluntarily served as a Nazi propagandist in occupied Poland during the war.
McFarlane’s latest book, Family Ties: How a Ukrainian Nazi and a living witness link Canada to Ukraine today, explores how Chomiak’s antisemitic wartime propaganda helped fuel the Holocaust.
“Chomiak was on the committee, he helped raise the money for [the monument],” said McFarlane in an interview with The Maple. “Savaryn of course was an SS man himself.”
The presence of monuments to an SS division and a prominent Nazi collaborator has long been criticized and opposed by Canada’s Jewish community, but it is also opposed by members of Canada’s Polish community. Both members of the Galicia Division and Shukhevych are alleged to have been involved in ethnic cleansing campaigns directed against Poles as well as Jews.
Edmonton police and the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service have charged journalist Duncan Kinney for allegedly vandalizing a Waffen SS monument under an offence seemingly intended to protect cenotaphs honouring Canadian war veterans.
Kinney vehemently denies the allegations and is contesting the charges in court.
It is likely the first time a Canadian journalist has been charged with vandalizing a war memorial, as well as the first time anyone has been charged with vandalizing a memorial to Canada’s wartime enemies.
The charge – “mischief relating to war memorials” – which carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence, seems to have been intended to punish vandalism of cenotaphs and monuments dedicated to Canada’s war dead.
The Criminal Code specifies that the charge relates to “mischief in relation to property that is a building, structure or part thereof that primarily serves as a monument to honour persons who were killed or died as a consequence of a war, including a war memorial or cenotaph […].”
The monument in question, located in St. Michael’s Cemetery in north Edmonton, honours Ukrainian veterans of the SS “Galicia Division,” which fought on the side of Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
Kinney was also arrested and charged in October 2022 with one count of mischief for allegedly spray painting the words “Actual Nazi” on a statue of Roman Shukhevych, a Ukrainian nationalist and Nazi collaborator responsible for the extermination of tens of thousands of Poles and Jews during the Second World War.
Edmonton police allege the incident took place on Aug. 10, 2021, the same day the monument in St. Michael’s Cemetery was similarly vandalized with the words “Nazi Monument 14th Waffen SS.”
Kinney is represented by Edmonton lawyer Tom Engel and vehemently denies both charges, arguing that they are a deliberate attempt by the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) to intimidate and silence him.
A prominent critic of the Edmonton police, Kinney has reported on numerous matters of police misconduct, as well as the difficulties he has encountered in trying to do his job. Alluding to those difficulties, Kinney described EPS Chief Dale McFee’s demeanour towards him as “hostile, dismissive, sarcastic, and evasive” in court documents.
Though Kinney had previously received media accreditation with EPS, beginning in February 2022 he alleged that he faced numerous and often arbitrary obstacles that have denied him access to police press briefings.
In addition, Edmonton police have not been forthcoming with documents that Kinney said are necessary for his defence.
Lawyer Tom Engel believes Kinney is being persecuted for criticizing the police, and not for allegedly vandalizing a monument.
“When you look at the investigation and the resources poured into it by the EPS, you have to ask yourself the question: ‘why would they devote such scarce police resources to an investigation like this?’ And the only reasonable explanation is because they targeted him,” said Engel in an interview with The Maple.
“He was identified, in my opinion, as an enemy of Chief McFee and the Edmonton Police Service.”
According to Engel, Kinney and his immediate family had been the subject of extensive police surveillance. Kinney has accused EPS of spying on him.
Engel said the initial investigation was handled by the EPS’ investigative response team, which he characterized as being designed to handle complex cases.
“They basically decided they would close the file because there didn’t appear to be any point in investigating any further,” said Engel. “And then it mysteriously resurfaces and it goes to the hate crimes unit. The officer there spent many hours investigating it, including surveilling Duncan and his wife and kid.”
Engel is incredulous that so much time and effort would be exhausted investigating a case of petty vandalism, let alone the alleged spray painting of a memorial to members of the Waffen SS.
“Normally it would involve a patrol constable,” said Engel. “Like somebody gets a swastika painted on their fence [...] (the police) are not going to go very far in trying to investigate it.”
Several other monuments to SS volunteers and other organizations complicit in Nazi war crimes have been defaced across Canada.
Engel thinks it may be the first time a charge meant to protect war memorials honouring Canadians has been used to try to prosecute an individual for allegedly defacing a monument to Canada’s war time enemies.
According to journalist and author Peter McFarlane, the Edmonton Galicia Division monument that Kinney is alleged to have vandalized was created thanks to the efforts of Waffen SS veteran Peter Savaryn, and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland’s maternal grandfather, Michael Chomiak, who voluntarily served as a Nazi propagandist in occupied Poland during the war.
McFarlane’s latest book, Family Ties: How a Ukrainian Nazi and a living witness link Canada to Ukraine today, explores how Chomiak’s antisemitic wartime propaganda helped fuel the Holocaust.
“Chomiak was on the committee, he helped raise the money for [the monument],” said McFarlane in an interview with The Maple. “Savaryn of course was an SS man himself.”
The presence of monuments to an SS division and a prominent Nazi collaborator has long been criticized and opposed by Canada’s Jewish community, but it is also opposed by members of Canada’s Polish community. Both members of the Galicia Division and Shukhevych are alleged to have been involved in ethnic cleansing campaigns directed against Poles as well as Jews.
Alex Cosh
Polish-born former Alberta deputy premier and cabinet minister Thomas Lukaszuk feels the law is being misused by people who could use a refresher on the history of the Second World War.
“I think it clearly shows that Edmonton police and the Crown prosecutor’s office, who obviously reviewed the charges and consented to them, are lacking, grossly, in historical knowledge,” said Lukaszuk in an interview with The Maple.
Lukaszuk also said he believes both the police and prosecutor have a poor understanding of the intention behind the law meant to protect war memorials in Canada.
“Clearly that section [of the Criminal Code] is intended to honour and sanctify monuments to Canadian war heroes from all wars,” said Lukaszuk. “I am certain that it was not the spirit of the law to extend that protection to those who committed war crimes or were fighting on the opposing side of the war.”
“I don’t imagine that a similar charge would be filed if, allegedly, Mr. Kinney defaced a statue of Mussolini or Adolf Hitler.”
History of War Crimes
Roman Shukhevych was the military leader of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army up until his death in 1950.
A Nazi collaborator during the Second World War, Shukhevych led Ukrainian units created by the German army, and is believed to have been responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Poles, as well as Jews and Soviet partisans during the war.
He is considered a national hero by members of the Ukrainian ultranationalist community.
The Galicia Division, meanwhile, was a Ukrainian formation of the Waffen-SS, the combat arm of the Nazi Party’s Schutzstaffel (SS) organization. The entire SS was determined to have been a criminal entity responsible for the Holocaust during the Nuremberg Trials after the Second World War.
The Galicia Division came to relatively recent prominence in September 2023 when 98-year old Yaroslav Hunka, who volunteered to join the division during the Second World War, was honoured by the Canadian Parliament as a Canadian and Ukrainian “hero” for having fought the Soviet Union.
Polish-born former Alberta deputy premier and cabinet minister Thomas Lukaszuk feels the law is being misused by people who could use a refresher on the history of the Second World War.
“I think it clearly shows that Edmonton police and the Crown prosecutor’s office, who obviously reviewed the charges and consented to them, are lacking, grossly, in historical knowledge,” said Lukaszuk in an interview with The Maple.
Lukaszuk also said he believes both the police and prosecutor have a poor understanding of the intention behind the law meant to protect war memorials in Canada.
“Clearly that section [of the Criminal Code] is intended to honour and sanctify monuments to Canadian war heroes from all wars,” said Lukaszuk. “I am certain that it was not the spirit of the law to extend that protection to those who committed war crimes or were fighting on the opposing side of the war.”
“I don’t imagine that a similar charge would be filed if, allegedly, Mr. Kinney defaced a statue of Mussolini or Adolf Hitler.”
History of War Crimes
Roman Shukhevych was the military leader of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army up until his death in 1950.
A Nazi collaborator during the Second World War, Shukhevych led Ukrainian units created by the German army, and is believed to have been responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Poles, as well as Jews and Soviet partisans during the war.
He is considered a national hero by members of the Ukrainian ultranationalist community.
The Galicia Division, meanwhile, was a Ukrainian formation of the Waffen-SS, the combat arm of the Nazi Party’s Schutzstaffel (SS) organization. The entire SS was determined to have been a criminal entity responsible for the Holocaust during the Nuremberg Trials after the Second World War.
The Galicia Division came to relatively recent prominence in September 2023 when 98-year old Yaroslav Hunka, who volunteered to join the division during the Second World War, was honoured by the Canadian Parliament as a Canadian and Ukrainian “hero” for having fought the Soviet Union.
Alex Cosh
It was the Soviet Union, which fought on the same side as Canada and the Allies during the war, that was chiefly responsible for defeating Nazi Germany and liberating Nazi extermination camps.
The incident caused considerable international embarrassment, and re-opened a national debate over Canada’s history of providing refuge to Nazis, their collaborators and other assorted fascists.
In the wake of the Hunka scandal, Kinney reported that the University of Alberta’s Canadian Institute for Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) had received approximately $1.4 million in donations and endowments in the names of Nazi collaborators.
In October 2023, Governor General Mary Simon apologized for the fact that Peter Savaryn, a Waffen SS veteran and former chancellor of the University of Alberta, had been awarded the Order of Canada some four decades prior.
While ultranationalist elements in Canada’s Ukrainian community have long defended monuments honouring Nazi collaborators, others from the community are aghast that such monuments remain standing.
“The existence, in Edmonton and elsewhere in Canada, of monuments honouring Ukrainian Nazi collaborators deeply offends me simply as a Canadian, and more particularly as a Ukrainian-Canadian,” said Alex Boykowich, president of the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians Branch 2 in Edmonton.
Like many Ukrainian-Canadians, Boykowich’s ancestors came to Canada from the Austro-Hungarian Empire before its collapse after the First World War. Boykowich’s father and two uncles volunteered to fight for Canada against Nazi Germany and fascist Italy during the Second World War.
“I’m sure if they were alive today they would be absolutely disgusted by the existence in Canada of monuments honouring Nazis,” Boykowich told The Maple. “It’s a gross betrayal of everything they, and Canada, fought for — a real slap in the face.”
Protecting Nazi Monuments
Canadian police have a track record of levying serious charges against individuals alleged to have defaced Nazi monuments.
In December 2019, the bust of Roman Shukhevych in Edmonton was defaced with the words “Nazi Scum.”
In July 2020, Kinney revealed that Edmonton police had initiated a hate crime investigation into the incident.
Around the same time, Halton Regional Police in Ontario faced serious backlash when they initiated a hate crimes investigation into vandalism of the Galicia Division monument in Oakville’s St. Volodymyr’s cemetery.
Halton police ultimately dropped their hate crimes investigation and apologized, arguing they thought the vandalism was directed at Ukrainians in general, and not a monument to a specific Ukrainian SS division.
By contrast, as The Maple reported in September 2021, the Edmonton Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex applied for and received a $35,000 grant from the federal government to install a security system to deter further vandalism of the Shukhevych bust.
St. Volodymyr’s in Ontario decided to remove its SS monument after additional vandalism and public scrutiny in the spring of 2024.Cenotaph Honouring SS Veterans Won’t Return To Oakville Cemetery: Source
A second monument honouring the far-right Ukrainian Insurgent Army still stands.
The MapleTaylor C. Noakes
But the effort to rid Canada of its Nazi monuments isn’t happening quickly enough for some members of Canada’s Ukrainian community. Boykowich doesn’t believe any lessons have been learned at an official level since the Hunka scandal.
“Why do these cases of pro-Nazi celebration, betraying the legacy of Canada’s participation in the Second World War, and embarrassing Canada internationally, regularly occur? Because a portion of the Ukrainian-Canadian community [...] is pro-Nazi,” said Boykowich.
“Their heroes are those Ukrainians who fought for Hitler and Nazi Germany, not the thousands of Ukrainian-Canadians who fought together with millions of Soviet Ukrainians to defeat Nazi Germany.”
Taylor C. Noakes is an independent journalist and public historian from Montreal.
It was the Soviet Union, which fought on the same side as Canada and the Allies during the war, that was chiefly responsible for defeating Nazi Germany and liberating Nazi extermination camps.
The incident caused considerable international embarrassment, and re-opened a national debate over Canada’s history of providing refuge to Nazis, their collaborators and other assorted fascists.
In the wake of the Hunka scandal, Kinney reported that the University of Alberta’s Canadian Institute for Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) had received approximately $1.4 million in donations and endowments in the names of Nazi collaborators.
In October 2023, Governor General Mary Simon apologized for the fact that Peter Savaryn, a Waffen SS veteran and former chancellor of the University of Alberta, had been awarded the Order of Canada some four decades prior.
While ultranationalist elements in Canada’s Ukrainian community have long defended monuments honouring Nazi collaborators, others from the community are aghast that such monuments remain standing.
“The existence, in Edmonton and elsewhere in Canada, of monuments honouring Ukrainian Nazi collaborators deeply offends me simply as a Canadian, and more particularly as a Ukrainian-Canadian,” said Alex Boykowich, president of the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians Branch 2 in Edmonton.
Like many Ukrainian-Canadians, Boykowich’s ancestors came to Canada from the Austro-Hungarian Empire before its collapse after the First World War. Boykowich’s father and two uncles volunteered to fight for Canada against Nazi Germany and fascist Italy during the Second World War.
“I’m sure if they were alive today they would be absolutely disgusted by the existence in Canada of monuments honouring Nazis,” Boykowich told The Maple. “It’s a gross betrayal of everything they, and Canada, fought for — a real slap in the face.”
Protecting Nazi Monuments
Canadian police have a track record of levying serious charges against individuals alleged to have defaced Nazi monuments.
In December 2019, the bust of Roman Shukhevych in Edmonton was defaced with the words “Nazi Scum.”
In July 2020, Kinney revealed that Edmonton police had initiated a hate crime investigation into the incident.
Around the same time, Halton Regional Police in Ontario faced serious backlash when they initiated a hate crimes investigation into vandalism of the Galicia Division monument in Oakville’s St. Volodymyr’s cemetery.
Halton police ultimately dropped their hate crimes investigation and apologized, arguing they thought the vandalism was directed at Ukrainians in general, and not a monument to a specific Ukrainian SS division.
By contrast, as The Maple reported in September 2021, the Edmonton Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex applied for and received a $35,000 grant from the federal government to install a security system to deter further vandalism of the Shukhevych bust.
St. Volodymyr’s in Ontario decided to remove its SS monument after additional vandalism and public scrutiny in the spring of 2024.Cenotaph Honouring SS Veterans Won’t Return To Oakville Cemetery: Source
A second monument honouring the far-right Ukrainian Insurgent Army still stands.
The MapleTaylor C. Noakes
But the effort to rid Canada of its Nazi monuments isn’t happening quickly enough for some members of Canada’s Ukrainian community. Boykowich doesn’t believe any lessons have been learned at an official level since the Hunka scandal.
“Why do these cases of pro-Nazi celebration, betraying the legacy of Canada’s participation in the Second World War, and embarrassing Canada internationally, regularly occur? Because a portion of the Ukrainian-Canadian community [...] is pro-Nazi,” said Boykowich.
“Their heroes are those Ukrainians who fought for Hitler and Nazi Germany, not the thousands of Ukrainian-Canadians who fought together with millions of Soviet Ukrainians to defeat Nazi Germany.”
Taylor C. Noakes is an independent journalist and public historian from Montreal.
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