House Committee to Probe Tribute to Nazi Unit Veteran in Parliament

Yaroslav Hunka (R) waits for the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Sept. 22, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Patrick Doyle)

A House committee is set to launch an investigation into how a former Ukrainian soldier who fought for a Nazi military unit was honoured in Parliament.

The House of Commons Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) passed a Tory motion on Nov. 21 calling for hearings into the matter.

“After two months of Liberal obstruction and delay, PROC has finally passed our Conservative motion,” said Tory MP and vice-chair of the committee Michael Cooper on X. “Now, we will get to the bottom of this international embarrassment.”

A readout of the motion says that given the “hurt and international embarrassment created by allowing a former soldier of a Nazi military unit in World War II to attend and be recognized during the President of Ukraine’s special address to Parliament,” the committee will study the occurrence.

The committee will invite to testify current and former officials from the Office of Protocol of Canada, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and Trade and Development, including those who organized Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit.

They will also invite officials from the federal policing branch of the RCMP, the Canada Security Intelligence Service, the Parliamentary Protective Service, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Privy Council’s Office, and the International and Interparliamentary Affairs branch of the House of Commons administration.

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The committee has also requested all emails and documents transmitted between the Speaker’s office or House of Commons Administration and “any government department or agency” that relates to Mr. Zelenskyy’s address and to Ukrainian-Canadian Yaroslav Hunka.

Mr. Hunka, a former member of the Waffen SS, a Nazi division accused of war crimes during the Second World War, received a standing ovation from all MPs present on Sept. 22, during President Zelenskyy’s visit to Parliament. Mr. Hunka was referred to as a “Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero,” by then-Speaker of the House and Liberal MP Anthony Rota, who had invited him.

Mr. Rota resigned from the position days later, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered an apology in the House of Commons, calling the recognition of Mr. Hunka “a violation of the memory of those who suffered grievously at the hands of the Nazi regime.”

Mr. Cooper said on Oct. 5 that he would table a motion before PROC to study how Mr. Hunka was recognized, claiming that “either proper vetting was not done” or the man’s military record was ignored.