Canada (Commonwealth Union)_ The speaker of Canada’s House of Commons has apologized for honoring an individual who worked in a Nazi regime during World War II, in an assembly joined by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, visiting Ukrainian President.
Speaker Anthony Rota lauded Yaroslav Hunka, 98, as a “Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero” in the Canadian Parliament on Friday, noting, “we thank him for all his service”.
Hunka worked in World War II as an associate of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, according to the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Point, a Jewish human rights group, that required an apology.
The center informed Hunka’s ties to the Nazi war machine “are well-documented”. Both Zelenskyy and Trudeau joined in recognizing Hunka during the parliament sitting with applause.
Rota took charge for what he considered as a misunderstanding, calling the act “entirely my own”.
“I have later become conscious of more data which reasons me to regret my verdict,” he said in a report on Sunday, offering his “sincere apologies to Jewish societies in Canada and around the world”.
He repeated his apology on Monday in Parliament, informing Canadian politicians that he was “deeply regretful” for his gesture and comments.
“I would also like to complement that this initiative was totally my own,” Rota said. “No one, including you – my fellow politicians – or the Ukraine delegation was aware of my remarks preceding to their delivery.”
The credit came subsequent the visit to congress by Zelenskyy, who acknowledged Canada for its support in Ukraine’s war against Russia.
Following Zelenskyy’s comments, Rota accredited Hunka – who was placed in the gallery – praising him for fighting for Ukrainian individuality against the Russians.
Hunka acknowledged two standing ovations from those assembled. As Canadian lawmakers applauded, Zelenskyy raised up the fist acknowledgement and Hunka acknowledged
“At a time of growing anti-Semitism and Holocaust misrepresentation, it is extremely worrying to see Canada’s parliament rise to congratulate an individual who was a associate of a unit in the Waffen-SS – a Nazi military subdivision accountable for the killing of Jews and others,” the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center informed in a report.
“A clarification must be provided as to how this individual come in to the sanctified halls of Canadian assembly and acknowledged credit from the Speaker of the House and a standing ovation.”
Russia’s RIA state news quoted Russia’s ambassador to Canada, Oleg Stepanov, as saying the delegation will direct a message to Trudeau and a note to the Canadian foreign ministry.
Dominique Arel, chairperson of Ukrainian studies at the University of Ottawa, said the episode “is highly awkward”.
“We have the substance of representation here, the optics of attendance in a military unit whose symbol is that of questionably the greatest unlawful Organisation in the 20th century … so obviously the optics are not good,” Arel informed CBC News.
Trudeau in particular has come under burden from opposition Conservative politicians, who have interrogated how the Canadian prime minister’s headquarters could have been ignorant of Hunka’s background.
“Your report doesn’t answer the questions about how this individual was assessed,” Andrew Scheer, the past Conservative Party leader, told Rota in the House of Commons on Monday.
Russia launched a full-scale assault of Ukraine in February 2022, saying the goal of the “distinct military process” was to denazify and disarm its neighbor. Zelenskyy is Jewish and lost family in the Holocaust.
Kyiv and its Western associates say Russia’s outbreak, which has killed tens of thousands and evacuated millions, has been a senseless land grab. The United States says Moscow’s untruthful explanation for the war has been nothing but the Kremlin’s effort to “manipulate international community belief”.
B’nai Brith Canada’s CEO Michael Mostyn informed it was disgraceful that parliament privileged a past member of a Nazi unit.
Mostyn said Ukrainian “ultranationalist ideologues” who undertaken for the Galicia Division “visualized of a culturally standardized Ukrainian state and recognized the idea of ethnic cleansing”.
“We appreciate an apology is forthcoming. We imagine a meaningful apology. Parliament owes an admission of guilt to all Canadians for this disgrace, and a comprehensive explanation as to how this could conceivably have taken place at the heart of Canadian democracy,” Mostyn said.
