Historians raised alarms years ago. Ottawa changed course only after the memorial opened.

Federal officials in other departments have also continued to warn Canadian Heritage that the inclusion of Nazi collaborators on the memorial would cause international embarrassment. “It is important to note that many anti-communist and anti-Soviet advocates and fighters were also active Nazi collaborators, who committed documented massacres,” Global Affairs Canada officials warned their counterparts at Canadian Heritage in 2021. Those records were obtained by the Ottawa Citizen using the access-to-information law.