On Sept. 22, Canadian members of Parliament gave a standing ovation in the House of Commons for a former member of the Waffen SS, a Nazi division accused of war crimes during World War II.
The incident, which has now taken centre stage in Canadian politics, happened during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Parliament as Russia’s war against Ukraine rages on. The man in question, Ukrainian-Canadian Yaroslav Hunka, was called “a Canadian hero” by Speaker of the House Anthony Rota and was also thanked for his military service.
If you were to compile a short list of basic political do’s and don’ts, “Don’t applaud a Nazi” would be pretty high up, right? Che Guevara T-shirts are cool. But swastikas? Don’t go there. So how did our entire House of Commons get it wrong?
Well, my own list of political maxims, more strategic than tactical, would include “Study history.” Or nowadays “Study history, don’t erase it.” And it’s pretty clear that none of them realized if someone fought the Russians during World War II he wasn’t on our side. Unless he was Finnish or Polish before 1941, an aside on which I would not want to quiz these Solons.
The truth about the 98-year-old Ukrainian former Nazi is complicated
Justin Trudeau’s government has been forced to apologise to Canadian Jewish organisations, after House Speaker Anthony Rota honoured a 98-year-old war veteran — who then turned out to have fought under the Nazis.
The incident occurred following a visit to the Canadian government by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Rota called out Yaroslav Hunka, a veteran sitting in the gallery, prompting a round of applause. Then someone dug up a blog post Hunka wrote in 2011 describing his wartime service — under Hitler.
The ADL declared the Azov Battalion deradicalized? Who knew!
Between a rock and a hard place is the best description of available choices in that time and place.
Multiple Liberal cabinet ministers say they believe Anthony Rota’s days as House of Commons Speaker are numbered, Radio-Canada has learned.
That Rota is still in the job causes discomfort in the Liberal caucus, sources told Radio-Canada, after he invited a Ukrainian veteran who fought in a Nazi unit to watch Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s speech to Parliament on Friday.
The opposition parties could force a vote on a motion in the House of Commons calling for the Speaker to step down. If that happens, several influential members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet told Radio-Canada they can’t imagine a scenario where Liberal MPs would vote to save Rota’s skin.
What is extraordinary in this video where @karinagould is asking for history to be rewritten (for the Hansard to strike the Speaker's fulsome praise for the Nazis) is Chrystia Freeland's reaction nodding vigorously. This is right out of Orwell's 1984 where history is constantly… pic.twitter.com/k4c6Aj1RNO
Liberals, Socialists and other progressives often claim that Conservatives are in bed with the far right and Nazis. This repulsive term is sometimes used to describe Conservatives themselves.
Well, that’s not going to work anymore. The political left can thank Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals for this after they unwittingly honoured a Nazi in Parliament.
OTTAWA — The Liberal government sought to erase from the record of the House of Commons the celebration of a Nazi war veteran during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit last Friday but that request was denied by the Conservatives who say to do so is “absolutely wrong.”
Government House leader Karina Gould stood up on Monday afternoon to ask for unanimous consent to adopt a motion calling to strike “from the appendix of the House of Commons debates” and from “any House multimedia recording” the recognition made by Speaker Anthony Rota of Yaroslav Hunka, 98, whom he described as “a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero.”
Remember when your parents made you visit a cranky old person you never wanted to meet.
Everyone knows that a reasonable compromise is hovering over the war between Ukraine and Russia, so why are there no negotiations?
Some commentators have accused President Biden of invoking “the lessons of Munich,” in reference to the Ukraine War, and particularly of citing those lessons erroneously in his address to the United Nations last week. Meticulous scrutiny of his text discloses no reference to Munich or to the practice of “appeasement” in international relations.
Recruiting poster 14th Waffen SS “Galicia” Division
If Canada was ever going to embarrass itself by having its Parliamentarians applaud the enthusiastic veteran of a Nazi combat unit, it’s almost inevitable that the unit would be the Waffen-SS Galicia Division.
Long before Galicia Division veteran Yaroslav Hunka ever scored an invite to Parliament Hill, Canada spent decades overlooking and even providing official cover for an organization that would later claim to be full of Ukrainian freedom-fighters, but was founded by Nazis, served under Nazi command and fought exclusively to serve Nazi aims.
Finally, a real Nazi affiliate appears to have breached the ramparts of Canada’s Parliament.
Yes indeed, after a couple of dry runs in which many politicians and media activists tried desperately to portray the trucker-led Freedom Convoy of 2022 and the Sept. 20 Million March 4 Children protests as fuelled by Nazis, white supremacists, and others suffering from a glossary of prejudicial phobias, the government of Justin Trudeau at last reeled in the real deal.
The Army’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center has quietly started admitting Ukrainian Army soldiers who were wounded in combat, most of them American volunteers.
A group of Ukrainian Army soldiers pierced by Russian grenades and mortar shells arrived at a hospital recently in need of surgery. It would have been a familiar scene from the bloody war grinding on in Ukraine, except for two crucial differences: Most of the wounded soldiers were American, and so was the hospital — the U.S. Army’s flagship medical center in Germany.
The Army has quietly started to treat wounded Americans and other fighters evacuated from Ukraine at its Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Though the number so far is small — currently 14 — it marks a notable new step in the United States’ deepening involvement in the conflict.
The Kremlin said on Monday it was “outrageous” that a Ukrainian man who served in one of Adolf Hitler’s Waffen SS units during the Second World War had been presented to Canada’s Parliament last week as a hero.
Yaroslav Hunka, 98, received two standing ovations from Canadian lawmakers during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The speaker of Canada’s Parliament has since apologized to Jewish groups for the incident.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the episode showed a careless disregard for historical truth, and that the memory of Nazi crimes must be preserved.
Remember when Canadian Parliament member Yaara Saks claimed that “honk honk” was code for “heil hitler” and basically accused the canadian truckers of being nazis?
Well this week in Parliament she honored and cheered for an actual Nazi SS officer. pic.twitter.com/i623NnWhIx
Not the first time … Andriy Melnyk has incensed Germany, Poland and Israel in downplaying Second World War massacres by Ukrainian fascist insurgents
Speaker of the House Anthony Rota apologized Sunday for honouring a man who fought in a Nazi unit during the Second World War.
Rota was responding to condemnation from Jewish groups and others stemming from a moment during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Parliament on Friday. During the visit, Rota said the man was “a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service.”
Those gathered in the House responded with applause and a standing ovation.
MPs honour man who fought for Nazis during Zelenskyy’s visit to Parliament
Several Jewish advocacy organizations are condemning members of Parliament for giving a standing ovation to a man who fought for a Nazi unit during the Second World War.
During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Ottawa on Friday, MPs honoured 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka in the House of Commons.
More … B’nai Brith Canada Condemns Parliament’s Standing Ovation for Nazi SS Veteran
OTTAWA – B’nai Brith Canada is shocked after Parliament last Friday celebrated a veteran of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division (14th Waffen SS).
During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to address Canada’s House of Commons last week, Speaker Anthony Rota acknowledged 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka to demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine as it fends off Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion. Hunka, who immigrated to Canada after serving in the 14th Waffen SS – a Nazi unit whose members swore allegiance to Adolf Hitler during WWII – received a standing ovation from members of Parliament and senators in attendance.
Their relationships might be close, the handshakes might have been firm, but President Volodymyr Zelensky had to roll his sleeves up during his trip to the US and Canada.
The latter was the easier end. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes” against Russia’s invasion, and he has cross-party support in that endeavour.
America’s pockets are deeper, but its politics are far more complicated.
President Zelensky secured another $325m (£265m) military package from the White House, but it wasn’t the $24bn biggie he’d been hoping for.
President Joe Biden reportedly told Volodymyr Zelensky during a White House meeting this week that the U.S. will send Ukraine long-range ATACMS missiles, amid growing questions about the continued funding of the war.
In addition to the $325 million military aid package, Biden reportedly pledged during a meeting with Zelensky on Thursday to supply the war-torn country with ATACMS missiles. The long-range missiles, which can hit targets up to 190 miles away, would represent a significant upgrade for the Ukrainian forces, which currently only have missiles capable of striking at a range of around 150 miles.
A red line too much?
#10 – “There will be a hot war between the United States and Russia in the next year. They want it anyway. I don’t think we’ll win it, but that’s a separate analysis. But I think, as a political matter, they need to declare war footing in order to assume war powers in order to… pic.twitter.com/vnbhqyvdrf
Friday’s Storm Shadow missile strike on the Kremlin’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters in occupied Crimea killed and badly injured several Russian military commanders, Ukraine has said.
“The details of the attack will be revealed as soon as possible and the result is dozens of dead and wounded occupants, including senior fleet commanders,” the Ukrainian army said.
On Sept. 22, Canadian members of Parliament gave a standing ovation in the House of Commons for a former member of the Waffen SS, a Nazi division accused of war crimes during World War II.
That Rota is still in the job causes discomfort in the Liberal caucus, sources told Radio-Canada, after he invited a Ukrainian veteran who fought in a Nazi unit to watch Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s speech to Parliament on Friday.
