“Ukraine – Russia”

An unbearable stupidity has trickled down from the Liberal government

Perhaps I should say straight away that I love Canada. Some of my best friends are Canadian. That minimal throat-clearing aside, let me say — as a friendly outsider — that Canada today looks like a nation of ignoramuses.

The incident in Parliament the other week is just one case in point. Standing ovations are very rare things. They should be very special things. When a whole House stands to applaud someone they had better be very sure who they are applauding.

The condemnation of 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka as a former member of the Waffen SS after he was honoured in Canada’s Parliament has been excessive. The person who exposed him in that capacity, Lev Golinkin, is a Nazi hunter whose criterion for the asseveration of capital crimes for a suspect of Nazi crimes is service in any capacity in a para-military or police unit that has reasonably been found guilty of the commission of such crimes.

Some members of the local Ukrainian community say there’s “broken trust” after a former Ukrainian soldier who fought in a Nazi division was honoured in Parliament during President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Ottawa — and want an apology of their own.

“This is just so, so disappointing,” said Jane Kolbe, an active member of the community in Ottawa.

Now-former House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota invited veteran Yaroslav Hunka, one of his constituents from North Bay, Ont., to sit in the gallery during Zelenskyy’s address on Sept. 22.

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.