The leader of Canada’s House of Commons, Anthony Rota, said sorry for praising a Ukrainian man who was in a Nazi group during World War Two.
Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old man, was sitting in the audience and received enthusiastic applause in the government after Mr. Rota called him a “hero” while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was visiting.
A Canadian group called CIJA expressed concern about a veteran from a Nazi group being praised, as this group took part in killing Jewish people during the Holocaust.
It said that this should never occur in the future.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in parliament with Mr Zelensky at that time.
Many Ukrainians fought for Germany in the war, but many more served in the Soviet Red Army.
Mr Rota said that on September 22, after the president of Ukraine spoke, he noticed someone in the audience.
“I recently found out more information that makes me feel sorry for the choice I made. ”
Mr Rota said that nobody, including other parliament members and the group from Ukraine, knew about what I was going to say or my comments before I actually said them. I came up with this idea all by myself. The person involved is from the same area as me and someone told me about them.
I want to say a heartfelt sorry to Jewish communities in Canada and all over the world. “I am fully accountable for what I did,” the person stated.
CIJA said they’re grateful for the apology they received in response to his statement. It’s really important to make sure we thoroughly check things to make sure something bad like this doesn’t happen again.
In easier language, the leader of the Canadian opposition Conservative party, Pierre Poilievre, said that the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, should take responsibility for the incident and apologize.
However, Trudeau’s office, who leads the Liberal party, said that the decision to invite Mr. Hunka was made only by the Speaker’s office, and apologizing was the correct action to take.
The Prime Minister’s office stated that they did not receive any prior notice about the invitation or recognition, and the same applies to the Ukrainian delegation.
Mr Trudeau’s office said that there was no private meeting between Mr Hunka and the prime minister.
Mister Rota pointed at Mister Hunka, who was sitting in the gallery, and called him a hero. He said Mister Hunka is a hero for both Ukraine and Canada, and they are grateful for his service.
The people in the building clapped their hands.
Mr Rota has been asked by other members of Parliament to step down, while some have criticized Mr. Trudeau for not being part of the decision to invite Mr.
“It’s surprising that the members of parliament stood up and applauded him,” Peter Julian, a member of parliament for the New Democratic Party, expressed in the House of Commons on Monday.
Members did it because we believed the Speaker when they said this person should be given this honor.
Russia has expressed disapproval of Canada’s invitation to Mr. On Monday, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, said that it was very shocking or offensive.
Many Western countries, like Canada, have taught young people who do not know which countries fought each other or what occurred during the Second World War. “And they have no knowledge about the danger of fascism,” Mr. Peskov stated
Russian President Vladimir Putin has made false claims that Russia wants to “de-nazify” Ukraine as a way to justify his invasion of the country.
During World War Two, Mr. Hunka was a member of a group called the Galicia Division within the 14th Waffen-SS Grenadier Division. This division consisted mostly of Ukrainian people who chose to join and were under the control of the Nazis.
The soldiers in this group are being accused of killing Polish and Jewish civilians, but they have not been proven guilty of any crimes by a court.
The group changed its name to the First Ukrainian Division and gave up to the Western Allies in 1945.
Dominique Arel, who teaches Ukrainian studies at the University of Ottawa, told CBC News that a group Mr Hunka was involved with had attracted many Ukrainian volunteers. These volunteers had joined with the hope of achieving independence for Ukraine.