The federal government has, for the fourth time, stripped a former Nazi interpreter of his Canadian citizenship – a decision Helmut Oberlander is set to contest again in Federal Court.

A federal order-in-council issued June 20, 2017 that revoked Oberlander’s citizenship marks the government’s latest attempt in a 22-year-old legal battle to kick the 93-year-old retired Waterloo developer out of the country. The decision was praised by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

“We thank and applaud the Government of Canada for again stripping Oberlander of his citizenship,” said Shimon Koffler, CEO of CIJA. “The legal facts in this case are not in dispute: Oberlander was a member of a savage Nazi unit that murdered more than 90,000 Jews in the Holocaust. He later fraudulently entered Canada and, with the help of his legal team, has since been exploiting our judicial process to avoid prosecution in Germany.

“There is no statute of limitations for such heinous crimes, and the Government deserves credit for its tireless efforts in this case. This latest development is an important milestone in bringing a measure of justice to his many victims and their families.”

A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said the government did not take a decision lightly.

“Our government welcomes newcomers to Canada for all the ways they enrich our society. We also know the value of Canadian citizenship, and cannot allow anyone to defraud the system or diminish its integrity,” said Jaswal Hursh in an email to iPolitics.

“Our government does not take citizenship revocation lightly, but it is necessary in cases of fraud and serious misrepresentation. The government is determined to deny safe haven in Canada to war criminals and persons believed to have committed or been complicit in war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide. It would be inappropriate to comment further as this matter is before the courts.”

Oberlander, born in Ukraine, used to work as a translator for Einstazkommando 10a, a Nazi death squad that targeted Jewish people during the Second World War.

Oberlander has never been charged by the federal government with any war crime. He has maintained throughout that he was forcibly recruited by the mobile killing unit when he was 17, and was never a Nazi.

Oberlander’s lawyers filed a notice of application on July 21 in Federal Court seeking a judicial review of the Governor in Council’s June 2017 decision to strip their client of his Canadian citizenship, and said that the government’s latest move did not come as a complete surprise.

“They notified us as early as September of the intention to do it, they provided us with documents and evidence and we responded to it,” said Oberlander’s lawyer Ron Poulton. “We did feel that the response was so strong and their case so weak that they would have not pursued it. So to that extent we were surprised at the decision, but we knew it was in the works.”

The government has tried three other times since 1995 to revoke Oberlander’s citizenship, but has been defeated in court each time.

Several court decisions have ruled that the federal government must prove Oberlander was an involved and willing participant in the death squad’s activities in order to revoke his citizenship. A 2013 Supreme Court ruling in a separate case established that guilt by association in the context of war crimes is not sufficient cause.

A previous attempt to strip Oberlander of Canadian citizenship through an order-in-council in 2012 was struck down by the Federal Court of Appeal in a 2016 ruling.

The government tried to challenge the appeal court’s decision in the Supreme Court of Canada but the top court declined to hear the case in July 2016 and sent the question of Oberlander’s citizenship back to the Governor in Council.

Since then, the government has faced a choice between abandoning efforts to strip Oberlander of his citizenship and finding another legal argument that does not rely on the heavy burden of proof that must be established regarding complicity in war crimes.

The latest order-in-council leans heavily on the argument that Oberlander failed to disclose his wartime activities when applying for his Canadian citizenship, which he obtained in 1960, and the order insists this gives it the right to void his citizenship.

“Whereas the Governor in Council, on the report from the Minister, is satisfied that that person has obtained Canadian citizenship by false representation or fraud or by knowingly concealing material circumstances, in the circumstances set out in subsection 10(2) of the Act, as it read on May 27, 2017, and has carefully weighed both the public interest and the personal interests of that person,” reads the notice.

Poulton told iPolitics he expects a hearing to take place in the fall or early next year, and said the government could technically “drag Mr. Oblerlander to his grave” with repeated returns to court.

“In other cases no, it wouldn’t go on forever. The government would get the message and stop pursuing somebody. In this case apparently they haven’t got the message even though the court has rapped their knuckles three times,” said Poulton, noting the government can keep going indefinitely.

“I guess that’s what their intention is.”