“Ukraine – Russia”

Jewish groups say the federal government must disclose more information from investigations into alleged war criminals who entered Canada after the Second World War, in a push that was re-energized after Parliament honoured a man who was revealed to have fought for a Nazi unit.

“When it comes to remembering the victims, we’ve done a lot. But when it comes to remembering the murderers, we’ve done very little,” David Matas, senior legal counsel for B’nai Brith Canada, said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live that aired Sunday.

A former federal justice minister says the “failure of indifference and inaction” over Canada’s history with Nazis in the country likely contributed to Parliament’s unknowing recognition of a Nazi veteran in the House of Commons last week, and that he wants to see nearly 40-year-old documents on suspected war criminals living in Canada unsealed.

The push to release the documents comes amid ongoing fallout after Parliament’s recognition of 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka, a Ukrainian veteran who fought for a Nazi unit during the Second World War.

The apology by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a tribute by Parliament to a man who had fought in a Nazi unit is an important healing step — but more needs to be done, Jewish groups say. Namely, declassifying more of the “secret” information contained in the Deschenes Report.

These reports were completed after the Second World War and contain information on Nazis who came to Canada after the conflict ended. However, the names are all redacted, as is any information on how those individuals were allowed to come.

The search for adult life in Ottawa continues. One reaction to the embarrassing parliamentary standing ovation for an old man who may not actually have been a Nazi but who did fight on the Nazi side in World War II was to try to expunge it from history, as a minister of the crown actually proposed, apparently seriously.

‘The family is in hiding here in North Bay,’ friend says amid the international controversy

A longtime friend says the Hunka family was unaware 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka would be honoured in Parliament last week in front of Ukraine’s president, setting off an international controversy.

Barb Bonenfant, who lives in North Bay, Ont., told CBC News that Hunka’s daughter-in-law sent her a message on Sunday after the public backlash began.

When Canada’s parliament praised a Ukrainian war veteran who fought with Nazi Germany, a renewed spotlight was put on a controversial part of Ukraine’s history and its memorialisation in Canada.

Yaroslav Hunka, the Ukrainian veteran who was applauded in parliament this week, served with a Nazi unit called the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS – also known as the Galicia Division – that was formed in 1943.

His appearance was criticised by Jewish groups and other parliamentarians alike. MP Anthony Rota, who invited him, has since resigned as the Speaker of the House of Commons, saying he deeply regretted the mistake.

Also … Nazis in Canada? The truth behind the demonization of Yaroslav Hunka

I don’t know Yaroslav Hunka personally, but I know… or knew… many like him. Most of them are dead, now. I know their stories. And I know where their bodies are buried.

Mr Hunka is a Canadian citizen, who lives near North Bay, Ontario. More specifically, he is a Ukrainian-Canadian, born 98 years ago in what was then a part of Poland known to some as “Galicia”, but to its natives as Ukraine.

The president of the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada is defending a Second World War veteran of a Nazi unit who was recently lauded as a hero in Canada’s Parliament.

Jurij Klufas has not met 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka but says the veteran is being treated unfairly. He says Hunka was fighting for Ukraine – not Germany – and that countries, including Canada, have cleared his division of war crimes.

Since he was celebrated in Parliament, kicking off a political firestorm in Ottawa and outrage around the world, the public has heard nothing from Yaroslav Hunka, the 98-year-old who served in a Nazi unit during the Second World War.

But a dozen years ago, Mr. Hunka wrote an essay about his time in the Waffen-SS Galicia Division for an American online magazine focused on Ukrainian war veterans – a piece that provides some insight into what he says were his reasons for enlisting.

While I wish I’d thought of it first, the best description of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s performance over the past few days during Canada’s global diplomatic disaster, goes to former Conservative senator Linda Frum, who tweeted on ‘X’:

“Have a look: on Friday Trudeau and his deputy PM were thrilled to use @ZelenskyyUa visit to mount an election-style rally w/ Toronto’s Ukrainian community. When there was glory to be had, it belonged to them. The mess that’s left behind belongs to Canada.”