Calls have been made for the resignation of the Trudeau government’s Speaker of the House after a former member of Adolf Hitler’s Waffen SS was honoured at a Parliamentary event where Ukrainian President Vlodmyr Zelensky was present.
98 year old Yaroslav Hunka was invited to the event by Speaker of the House Anthony Rota who described him as a “hero” before he was given a standing ovation and lauded for his efforts to ‘fight for the freedom of Ukraine’.
You can see Speaker Rota doing some quick on the spot math in his head.
"from the second world war who fought… against the Russians… … …" pic.twitter.com/tMiwVBrlu8
— Stephen Taylor (@stephen_taylor) September 24, 2023
Will CBC, CTV and Global News be covering the news that Justin Trudeau and all the Members of Parliament honoured a SS Nazi soldier with a standing ovation? pic.twitter.com/iWmjBJVq1i
— Paul Mitchell (@PaulMitchell_AB) September 24, 2023
“We have with us in the Chamber today a Ukrainian-Canadian veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian Independence against the Russians and continues to support the troops today,” said Rota.
Hunka received a standing ovation from all of the house parties,Senate groups and foreign dignitaries in recognition of his supposed efforts against Russia past and present.
“He’s a Ukrainian hero – a Canadian hero – and we thank him for all his service,” said Rota
1/2 On behalf of all parliamentarians, I want to thank His Excellency Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, for addressing our Parliament today. Canada has stood with the Ukrainian people throughout Ukraine’s proud history, and that will not change. pic.twitter.com/iFTHVuvwjm
— Speaker of the HoC (@HoCSpeaker) September 22, 2023
The incident has caused outrage with critics saying that the Tredeau government invited a “literal Nazi” to the Parliament.
Canadian MP Pierre Poilievre called the incident “an appalling error in judgement on the part of Justin Trudeau” saying that it was the responsibility of the prime minister’s protocol office to arrange and vet all guests and programming for state visits of this kind.
“No parliamentarians (other than Justin Trudeau) had the opportunity to vet this individual’s past before he was introduced and honoured on the floor of the House of Commons,”
“Without warning or context, it was impossible for any parliamentarian in the room (other than Mr. Trudeau) to know of this dark past. Mr. Trudeau must personally apologize and avoid passing the blame to others as he always does,” he said.
Liberal House Leader Karina Gould and Canada’s Speaker of the House Anthony Rota holdings hands with Waffen-SS Nazi soldier, Yaroslav Hunka. pic.twitter.com/ZMzeqZu6gN
— Harrison Faulkner (@Harry__Faulkner) September 24, 2023
According to an article featured in Canadian military magazine, esprit de corps, approximately 2,000 Waffen SS members of Ukrainian heritage fled to Canada posing as war refugees in the 1950s hidden among the 30,000 Ukrainians who relocated to Canada at the time.
“While some in the Canadian government didn’t probe deeply into the background of the Ukrainian “refugees,” British government bureaucrats knew who they were dealing with and were more than happy to dump the SS troops into Canada’s lap,’ it says adding that Waffen was an SS division “and technically all of its officers and senior NCOs are liable for trial as war criminals,” according to a report from Britain’s Under-Secretary of State.
The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies said it is “appalled that Canada’s Parliament gave a standing ovation to a Ukrainian veteran who served in a Nazi military unit during the Second World War implicated in the mass murder of Jews and others,” adding that the Waffen SS was “declared a criminal organisation” during the Nuremberg Trials.
Rota issued a statement saying he wishes to “make clear that no one, including fellow parliamentarians and the Ukraine delegation, was aware of my intention of my remarks before I delivered them,”
“The initiative was entirely my own, the individual in question being from my riding and having been brought to my attention,”
Rota continued that he wished to extend his “deepest apologies” to members of the Jewish community in Canada and across the globe saying he accepts “full responsibility” for his actions.