OTTAWA � America's top Nazi hunter has been retained by the federal government to help bring alleged war criminals living in this country to justice.

Washington lawyer Neal Sher's formal hiring will be announced Friday by Justice Minister Anne McLellan.

Sher headed the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Special Investigations (OSI) for 12 years until 1994, compiling an impressive record of deporting Nazi war crimes suspects from the United States.

He has also been an outspoken critic of Canada's abysmal record in dealing with war crimes suspects.

Sher will act as a special adviser to the federal war crimes unit in the department of justice by providing legal advice, assisting in the gathering of evidence and overcoming unexpected legal obstacles.

Since its creation in 1979, the OSI has stripped 60 suspected Nazi collaborators of their citizenship and it is currently investigating 281 cases.

By contrast, Canada's only success came in 1992 when convicted Nazi collaborator Jacob Luitjens was deported to the Netherlands.  Nine other deportation cases are before the courts and the naming of two more suspects is expected by the end of the month.

Sher declined to discuss his contract during a brief telephone conversation but some years ago he spelled out his approach to dealing with war crimes suspects in a speech.

"As the window of opportunity to bring Nazi war criminals to justice slowly closes, those whose job it is to develop the cases and investigate the facts must use every tool at their disposal," he said.

"Imaginative law enforcement techniques, aggressive tactics and a fire in the belly are the elements that may bring long-needed justice to one of the saddest and most tragic episodes in all human history."

Canada's Jewish community has always been suspicious of federal bureaucrats, often accusing them of lacking the determination to get the job done.  The situation contrasts to that in the U.S. where the Jewish community is one of the OSI's strongest allies.

Sher is Jewish and his hiring comes at a time when Toronto lawyer John McCamus, former dean of Osgoode law school, is investigating allegations of anti-Semitism in the unit in 1990.