MP apologizes for 'Nazi' remark

The Liberal MP for Kitchener-Waterloo says he apologizes to anyone who felt hurt by reports he had compared government policy on revoking citizenship to Nazi Germany.

Andrew Telegdi made a statement Wednesday afternoon in the House of Commons.

The Canadian Jewish Congress had asked for his resignation after a newspaper headline said he had compared Canada to a Nazi regime.

Telegdi is upset that cabinet could strip the citizenship of one of his constituents, Helmut Oberlander, without him having the right to appeal that decision in court.

During the Second World War Oberlander was a member of a Nazi unit responsible for killing more than 90,000 Jews.

A federal court judge has ruled there's no evidence Oberlander committed war crimes. But he did lie about his wartime service to get into Canada. Based on that, Ottawa is trying to deport him.

He said people should realize that he is a Hungarian refugee who fled Soviet oppression.

The Prime Minister's Office called Telegdi's comments "extreme and offensive."