The name of a Nazi collaborator believed to have participated in the massacre of Latvian Jews was engraved on Ottawa’s Monument to the Victims of Communism, according to internal emails obtained by Ricochet through Access to Information.
In addition, the engraving took place before the federal department had made a final decision about who to commemorate. This contradicts previous statements by Canadian Heritage, which has consistently denied that any names had been engraved on the controversial monument, as they had not yet determined who among the roughly 500 individuals slated for commemoration aligned with Canadian values.
In fact, several hundred names had been engraved and affixed to the monument in advance of the monument’s original unveiling date, scheduled for November 2nd 2023.
In an email dated November 3rd 2023, Sandra Richards, a Canadian Heritage (PCH) project manager responsible for monuments and public art, indicated to her colleagues at Canadian Heritage and the National Capital Commission that an Assistant Deputy Minister with Canadian Heritage wanted the names removed as soon as possible.
“Per my previous email, we fully understand the need to continue production of the names in the absence of a final decision from PCH so that you can close out that contract. It may have been a misunderstanding on our part that this work would also involve installation, but the direction from senior management is that tiles should not be installed until we’ve reached a decision.”
Richards further stated that she noticed the name of a known Nazi collaborator during a site visit that occurred on November 1st 2023.
“I didn’t look at all the names when I was on site, but I did notice “Janis Niedra,” which has already been decided in principle to be removed (it’s a name that can be readily researched and identified as a nazi [sic] collaborator with no ambiguity).”
Janis (John) Niedra was the first president of the Latvian National Federation in Canada, which he led from 1954 until his death in 1969. Niedra is alleged to have participated in the execution of Latvian Jews beginning in 1941, and was the Nazi’s top official in the Latvian city of Daugavpils. He immigrated to Canada in 1951 and quickly fell in with other Latvian collaborators, including former SS-Obersturmführer Oskars Perro (Mike Wallace of television newsmagazine 60 Minutes attempted to interview Perro at his home for a 1997 segment on war criminals living in Canada). In May of 1969 Niedra was photographed handing a medal and scroll to former Canadian prime minister John Diefenbaker, for the latter’s efforts to “liberate” the Latvian people from the Soviet Union.
The Latvian National Federation in Canada proposed Niedra for commemoration, purchasing 10 “virtual bricks” as part of the monument’s fundraising effort. Niedra’s name was listed on the website of Tribute to Liberty, a charity that raised funds for the Victims of Communism monument, in June of 2021, though has since been removed.
The CBC first reported that Nazi collaborators and suspected war criminals had been listed for commemoration on the monument in July of 2021. It does not appear that Tribute to Liberty vetted the names on the commemorative list prior to handing the project over to Canadian Heritage. Per previous reporting, it appears that Canadian Heritage undertook at least two reviews of those listed as “victims of communism,” and in at least one instance a historian recommended either the federal department commit itself to an exhaustive research effort to ensure it would know the backgrounds of every person to be commemorated, or abandon these individual commemorations altogether.
“We were not aware that some names had already been put up on the wall… this is putting us in a bit of awkward situation.”
When Canadian Heritage officials realized nameplates had been engraved and affixed to the monument’s “Wall of Remembrance,” they insisted that the nameplates be removed within a week. They were concerned that efforts to cover the names were insufficient, and that members of the press or the public might get a glimpse of the engraved names.
“It’s easy enough to bring a ladder to get a photo over the blue screen,” said Richards. “Not sure if anyone would go to that length, but it is possible.”
In an email exchange a day earlier, a senior Canadian Heritage official named Tristan Landry told his colleagues at the National Capital Commission (NCC) that a “special cover” is being acquired to cover over the monument’s “Wall of Remembrance” — the plinth to which the names of alleged victims of communism would be affixed.
“We were not aware that some names had already been put up on the wall,” writes Landry. “Furthermore, our senior management was briefed that no names was on the wall; thus this is putting us in a bit of awkward situation.”
“Is there anyway to cover-up the Wall once the blue tarp is down? I know it’s still in progress, but I wondered if someone might be able to zoom in on the names… We understand why it was necessary to proceed with the work in the absence of an agreement on the names, but it will be more difficult to explain to a reporter.”
An email from Sandra Richards to colleagues at the NCC from the morning of November 2nd 2023 provides some additional insight into the Heritage department’s concerns.
“Is there anyway to cover-up the Wall once the blue tarp is down,” asked Richards. “I know it’s still in progress, but I wondered if someone might be able to zoom in on the names (which look really great btw). I noticed the name “Janis Niedra,” for example, which we’ve flagged as definitely one of the ones that will be removed. We understand why it was necessary to proceed with the work in the absence of an agreement on the names, but it will be more difficult to explain to a reporter.”
The emails further reveal that the Victims of Communism monument’s unveiling was in fact postponed because of the Yaroslav Hunka incident, something Canadian Heritage had also previously denied.
An email dated October 11th 2023 from Yoland Charette, Chief Landscape Architecture & Industrial Design with the NCC, indicates that PCH officials told him that because of the Hunka incident, PCH was rethinking how the monument’s names would be presented at the planned November 2nd inauguration. In an email to his NCC colleagues, Charette says that while more than 500 names were intended for commemoration on the Wall of Remembrance, only 200 would be installed for the ultimately postponed inauguration. Charette further notes that this complicates the production of the nameplates, as Canadian Heritage had still not provided NCC with a revised list of names. Charette indicates three possible ways forward, including affixing all of the nameplates (something he notes isn’t an option for PCH), not affixing any nameplates, or creating a temporary printed sign with the revised list of names, something he says would be needed within 48 hours.
Despite Charette’s proposal it appears that Canadian Heritage did not provide NCC — which is responsible for overseeing the construction of monuments within the National Capital Region — with a revised list of names to be commemorated. Moreover, all the nameplates had been fabricated in advance of the planned November 2nd unveiling (despite the fact that PCH still hadn’t decided who would be commemorated), and they had also been affixed to the monument.
This appears to have caught Canadian Heritage officials off guard.
On October 31st 2023, Ludwik Klimkowski — chair of Tribute to Liberty (TTL; the charitable organization that was originally in charge of the monument project) — contacted PCH because not everyone who had been invited to the monument’s unveiling had been informed of its postponement. Klimkowski proposed that he could make himself available to greet anyone who happened to show up, and inquired as to whether the construction fence surrounding the site might be opened so people could get a closer look of the monument.
The email chain discussing this request reveals that Klimkowski and other TTL officials had made similar requests to visit the site, then still considered an active construction site, in the past, and that they should be reminded this would be the last time they could be accommodated before winter.
On the morning of November 1st, Azadeh Ghafelehbashi, a senior NCC project manager, reminded his colleagues that this could be a problem, as it was a liability for the contractor and because 50-60 percent of the nameplates had been affixed. Ghafelehbashi asked whether Canadian Heritage was ready for the Wall of Remembrance to be shown to members of the public. In response to this, Sandra Richards indicated she knew the nameplates were being produced, but was unaware that they had been installed. She recommended that the site remain off limits to visitors, but that a mesh screen be partly removed so the monument would be visible. She also recommended NCC officials be present “to ensure that there are no issues.”
An email from the morning of November 2nd reveals that Richards visited the site on November 1st and noticed the name Janis Niedra among those inscribed on the Wall of Remembrance. Richards asked her colleagues at NCC if it was possible to cover the wall, a request that was made again not long after on the same day by Tristan Landry. At least two board members of Tribute to Liberty — Klimkowski and Robert Tmej — appear to have visited the monument on November 2nd, though it isn’t clear whether the Wall of Remembrance was covered during their visit.
The email chain also reveals that the nameplates were removed and crated at an NCC facility, that Canadian Heritage had requested security guards stay on site, over-night, for an undetermined period. At several points NCC and PCH officials mention this would all incur additional costs. Canadian Heritage media relations staff had previously indicated that the costs associated with the delayed unveiling and indecision concerning commemoration would not affect the monument’s $7.5 million budget.
The monument was ultimately unveiled on December 12th 2024 at a small ceremony without any political representation. None of the nameplates had been attached to the plinth at the time of its unveiling, though Ludwik Klimkowski indicated to the audience this would occur in 2025. As reported by the Ottawa Citizen, shortly thereafter a spokesperson for Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge denied this, saying no timeline had been established or agreed to by the federal government. In October of 2024, the Citizen reported that St-Onge’s office would not confirm that it would keep the names of Nazi collaborators and fascists off the memorial.
