Canada apologizes for honoring Ukrainian Nazi veteran

Canada's House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota has apologized for praising Yaroslav Hunka as a "Ukrainian hero." On Friday, Rota organized an event at the Canadian Parliament to give a standing ovation to Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian Nazi veteran who fought in the ranks of the Nazi SS's 14th Waffen Grenadier Division during World War II.

The entire Canadian legislature was in attendance, as were Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In a statement on Sunday, Rota expressed his "deepest apology" for the incident, which he claimed was entirely his fault. The Speaker said he “later became aware of further information” which led him to “regret” his recognition of Hunka, adding: “This initiative was entirely my own.

Separately, the Prime Minister's Office denied any involvement in the incident. In a statement posted on Meanwhile, Pierre Poilievre, Canada's opposition leader, criticized the Trudeau government for its support for the Ukrainian Nazi veteran. The Prime Minister's "Personal Protocol Office is responsible for organizing and screening all guests and programming state visits of this nature," the Conservative leader wrote on X, calling on the Prime Minister to "personally apologize." “Today it was announced that Justin Trudeau personally met and honored a veteran of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (a Nazi division).

The Liberals then made sure this Nazi veteran was recognized in the House of Commons during the Ukrainian president’s visit,” Poilievre wrote in a post on Saturday. He called the incident in Parliament a "horrendous lapse in judgment" by Trudeau himself. "No parliamentarian (other than Justin Trudeau) had the opportunity to examine this person's past before he was introduced and honored in the House of Commons. Without warning or context, it was impossible for any parliamentarian in the room (other than Mr. Trudeau) to know about this dark past,” he explained.