A former Edmonton journalist has pleaded guilty to vandalizing a monument honouring a Ukrainian Nazi collaborator, admitting that he subsequently reported the incident as a news story without disclosing that he was responsible. Duncan Kinney, the former editor of The Progress Report, entered his guilty plea Monday, October 19, ending a four year legal battle in which he had repeatedly accused Edmonton police of pursuing a politically motivated investigation against him.
The charge stems from an incident on August 10, 2021, when Kinney spray painted the words “Actual Nazi” on a bust of Roman Shukhevych outside the Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex in north Edmonton. Shukhevych was a Ukrainian nationalist commander who collaborated with Nazi Germany during the Second World War and later led Ukrainian nationalist forces implicated in the murder of Jews, Poles and other civilians.
According to the facts presented in court, Kinney travelled to the complex by bicycle shortly after midnight, climbed over a fence and spray painted the monument. Security cameras recorded the incident. Approximately eight hours later, he returned to photograph the vandalism before contacting officials at the Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex for comment.
Kinney subsequently published an article on The Progress Report describing the vandalism as the work of an unknown person. He included photographs of the monument, reported that police were investigating and discussed Shukhevych’s history as a Nazi collaborator. The article made no mention of his own involvement.
Edmonton police arrested Kinney in October 2022 and charged him with mischief related to the Shukhevych monument and a second memorial honouring the 14th Waffen SS Galicia Division at St. Michael’s Cemetery. Kinney pleaded not guilty and publicly maintained that he was being targeted because of his reporting on alleged misconduct within the Edmonton Police Service.
He subsequently established an online fundraising campaign seeking financial assistance for his legal defence. The campaign described the investigation as politically motivated and accused Edmonton police of attempting to silence his journalism. The GoFundMe page has recorded more than $34,000 in donations, and its published description continued to maintain that Kinney had pleaded not guilty and was awaiting trial.
The Progress Report‘s board issued a statement following Monday’s court appearance, saying its members had believed Kinney’s repeated declarations of innocence. Board representative Jim Storrie described Kinney’s actions as “a cardinal breach of journalistic ethics” and said his conduct was unacceptable in any media organization.
The board said Kinney had left journalism in the spring of 2025 and would not return to the organization. It announced that his previous reporting would remain in the publication’s archives.
The monument at the centre of the case has been the subject of complaints from Jewish and Polish organizations for decades. Shukhevych served as an officer in a German military formation during the Second World War and later commanded the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Historian John-Paul Himka, professor emeritus at the University of Alberta, has documented the involvement of Ukrainian nationalist organizations in atrocities against Jews and Polish civilians during the war.
Jewish organizations, including B’nai Brith Canada, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Jewish Federation of Edmonton, have repeatedly called for the removal of the Shukhevych monument and the nearby memorial to the Waffen SS Galicia Division. The Galicia Division was a military formation under Nazi command whose members included Yaroslav Hunka, the Ukrainian veteran honoured with two standing ovations in Canada’s House of Commons in September 2023.
Hunka was invited by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Government to the House of Commons during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Parliament. He was introduced as a veteran who had fought against Russia during the Second World War, his membership in the Waffen SS Galicia Division was not disclosed during the introduction. The incident triggered international condemnation and led to the resignation of House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota.
Following the parliamentary scandal, Jewish organizations renewed their demands for the removal of monuments honouring Nazi collaborators and Waffen SS units in Canada. A memorial to the Galicia Division at St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Cemetery in Oakville, Ontario, was subsequently removed. The Shukhevych monument and Galicia Division memorial in Edmonton remain standing.
Kinney is scheduled to be sentenced on January 25, 2027. Prosecutors are expected to withdraw the separate charge concerning the Galicia Division memorial as part of the resolution of the case. His guilty plea relates specifically to the vandalism of the Shukhevych monument.
Neither Kinney nor his lawyer, Tom Engel, commented following Monday’s court appearance. The Progress Report board said it would continue publishing and would retain Kinney’s previous articles in its public archive, including the reporting he produced while concealing his responsibility for the vandalism.
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