MPs Call Former House Speaker Rota to Testify on Tribute to Nazi Unit Veteran

Then-Speaker of the House of Commons Anthony Rota speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sept. 25, 2023. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

MPs will call former House Speaker Anthony Rota to appear before a parliamentary committee following his tribute to a former Ukrainian soldier later identified as a Nazi collaborator.

The decision came after a unanimous vote of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee behind closed doors, which was first covered by Blacklock’s Reporter. MPs said Mr. Rota’s testimony was required to explain “the international embarrassment” the incident caused.

During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Parliament in Ottawa on Sept. 22, then-House Speaker Mr. Rota recognized Ukrainian-Canadian Yaroslav Hunka as a “Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero,” and thanked him for his service before all MPs in the House gave him a standing ovation.

The controversy emerged when it was revealed that Mr. Hunka had been a member of the  14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, a fact Mr. Rota said he was unaware of at the time of the tribute. Cabinet later attributed this oversight to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, which had included Mr. Hunka on a VIP list for parliamentary recognition.

Mr. Rota resigned under the threat of censure on Sept. 26, 2023, and issued a public apology in the Commons, explaining that his intention was to underscore the longstanding conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

“My intention was to show that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is not a new one, that Ukrainians have unfortunately been subject to foreign aggression for far too long,” Rota stated in his Commons apology.

“I am deeply sorry that I have offended many with my gesture and remarks.”

After the incident, Prime Minister Trudeau apologized on behalf of Parliament and denounced the honour given to Mr. Hunka as an insult to those who suffered under Nazi oppression.

The Opposition criticized the government’s handling of the situation, with Conservatives questioned the denial of knowledge about Mr. Hunka’s invitation, saying that the Prime Minister’s Office issued the invitation directly.

Following the incident, cabinet declassified a 1986 internal study on Feb. 1, revealing that Canada had allowed thousands of Nazi collaborators to enter the country with only superficial screenings.

The report, “Nazi War Criminals In Canada: The Historical And Policy Setting From The 1940s To The Present,” includes the involvement of the Ukrainian Waffen SS Division in World War II, including its sworn oath of allegiance to Hitler. The report noted a lack of evidence directly linking the unit to war crimes as a collective entity despite the division’s association with Nazi Germany.

The study also addressed the broader context of Nazi war crimes and the role of the Waffen SS, highlighting the 1946 Nuremberg Tribunal’s classification of the Waffen SS as a criminal organization due to its members’ involvement in atrocities.