Madam Chair and members of the committee, I would like to thank you for this opportunity to appear before you today as part of your study on ocean war graves.
I am Dr. Steve Harris, the acting director and chief historian at the directorate of history and heritage, National Defence headquarters. I began my career there in 1979, became chief historian in 1998, and have been the acting director since 2012. As such, I am ultimately responsible for the DND/CAF casualty identification program, which is managed by DHH within military personnel command. This program is just under 20 years old, and exists because in the late 1990s the Commonwealth War Graves Commission transferred its responsibility for identifying recently discovered remains of commonwealth sailors, soldiers, and airmen killed in the two world wars to the participating national authorities. This task was given to the chief of military personnel and delegated to DHH.
Using historical research and physiological records, we identified our first casualty in 2002—a soldier missing from the Lincoln and Welland Regiment whose remains were discovered and reported two years before.
Until 2005, our experience was entirely with remains found on land—soldiers or victims of an air crash—and whether in Europe or in Canada, clear protocols were followed. The discovery was reported to the police, who police determined that the remains were likely a war casualty. When evidence suggested that the individual was from a commonwealth service, the remains were gathered and stored by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. If evidence suggested that the individual was Canadian, we were informed and began our work.
In 2005, however, the wreckage of an RCAF Nomad aircraft was discovered in Lake Muskoka, Ontario, by civilian recreational divers. It was not known at the outset whether the aircraft presented an environmental hazard, whether it carried any ordnance, and whether the crew were still on board. It was also not clear at the outset whether the wreckage should remain where it was and hopefully be declared to be a war grave should legislation exist, or whether it should be removed. Eventually it was removed, and the remains of the crew were given a proper military burial in 2015.
That was the first occasion upon which we at DHH became involved in discussions about defining a “war grave”, an occasion complicated by the fact that Lake Muskoka waters are in the purview of the Province of Ontario, not Canadian jurisdiction, as such. What we saw then was no clear way to provide protection for the wreck and the human remains in it. In discussions that followed, however, we realized that although the Nomad case had raised our awareness, it had become very clear that our involvement in wrecks was limited to those that contained human remains and that could be defined as a war or operational grave.
If something is going to be defined as a war grave, that suggests that the wreckage and the human remains are not going to be touched, removed, and reburied. In that case, DHH has no involvement whatsoever. The question for us has always been whether there is a requirement to consider whether a wreck in easily accessible waters is likely to be exploited despite its having been declared a war grave. From what we know, that consideration will apply mainly to aircraft, not ships, the Nomad in Lake Muskoka being the prime example. In that case, the lack of legislative means to declare the wreck a war grave was part of the decision-making process that led to its being lifted and human remains removed and buried. However, another part of that decision-making process was that it was easily accessible, and even if there had been a mechanism to secure Ontario Provincial Police assistance in shielding it, the likelihood that it would be dived on, and human remains potentially tampered with, was high. That was clearly a factor, too.
I would be pleased to take any questions.