Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has apologized in the House of Commons on behalf of MPs for honouring a man in Parliament who fought for a Nazi unit during World War II.
“On behalf of all of us in this House, I would like to present unreserved apologies for what took place on Friday and to President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian delegation for the position they were put in,” Mr. Trudeau said during question period on Sept. 27.
“For all of us who were present, to have unknowingly recognized this individual was a terrible mistake and a violation of the memory of those who suffered grievously at the hands of the Nazi regime.”
During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Parliament in Ottawa on Sept. 22, then-House Speaker Anthony Rota recognized a former member of Waffen SS, a Nazi division accused of war crimes during World War II. Mr. Rota said that Ukrainian-Canadian Yaroslav Hunka was a “Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service,” before all MPs in the House gave him a standing ovation.
Mr. Rota subsequently apologized for recognizing the man in the House of Commons and resigned from his role as Speaker of the House on Sept. 26.
The prime minister, speaking to reporters before the announcement, said Mr. Rota was “solely responsible for the invitation and recognition of this man, and he wholly accepted that responsibility and stepped down.”
Tories Call for Personal Apology
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in the House on Sept. 27 that Mr. Trudeau had allowed for a “monumental, unprecedented and global shame” to happen in Parliament, and asked whether the prime minister would “take personal responsibility for this shame and personally apologize on behalf of himself?”Mr. Trudeau responded by saying the suggestion that visitors to the House of Commons should be vetted by the Prime Minister’s Office was a “grievous attack on the rights and freedoms of parliamentarians.”
Mr. Poilievre then said that by allowing people who had not been vetted for their security background into Parliament, the prime minister was allowing for “massive diplomatic disasters” to potentially take place.
“Is he really saying that he did absolutely nothing to protect the Ukrainian president from all of those many risks?” he asked.
Mr. Trudeau said Mr. Rota had been the one to invite Mr. Hunka to Parliament and deliver the recognition, and had taken responsibility for doing so.
Conservative Party Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman accused Mr. Trudeau of instructing his MPs to “try to wipe the parliamentary record” of Mr. Rota’s remarks. On Sept. 25, Government House Leader Karina Gould attempted to erase the parliamentary tribute to Mr. Hunka from the House of Commons record by seeking unanimous consent from MPs on a motion to that effect, but it failed due to opposition from Conservative MPs.
When asked by Ms. Lantsman whether he would personally apologize for the incident, Mr. Trudeau responded by highlighting the “principle of independence of Parliament from the government of the day.”
“Canadians and the world are watching very carefully what has happened this week and the terrible error that happened on Friday. But I think they’re also interested in seeing who’s trying to make partisan hay out, who’s trying to look for gains out of what was obviously a terrible, terrible mistake,” he added.
At one point, Mr. Trudeau brought up an incident in early 2023 where several Conservative MPs dined with Member of the European Parliament Christine Anderson, whom he called a “far-right” politician.
“To this day, the leader of the Official Opposition has not apologized—no recognition, no apologies, no consequences for those three MPs who engaged with a far-right German politician,” Trudeau said.
“If the leader of the Opposition wants the government to help him vet who his MPs meet with, we'd be more than happy to give him some better advice.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said while he was pleased the prime minister had apologized, “real damage” had been done to Canada’s reputation and the Ukrainian war effort. “After three days, the Prime Minister finally said something. But he’s got to take action. What is he going to do in concrete terms to clean up this mess?” Mr. Singh said.
The prime minister said Canada would continue supporting Ukraine with military, humanitarian, financial, and diplomatic aid. “We will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes with whatever it takes,” he added.
When asked by Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet if he had personally called the Ukrainian president to apologize for the incident, Mr. Trudeau said the government had sent “several direct messages to the Ukrainian people and President Zelenskyy.”
“At the same time, we will continue to stand strong against propaganda and misinformation stemming from Russia,” he said.
