Anthony Rota presented his resignation before the House of Commons days after he invited to the Lower House a 98-year-old Canadian of Ukrainian origin, who was honored by members of Parliament on the occasion of the visit of the President of Ukraine to country last Friday. . However, it was later discovered that the veteran had been a Nazi soldier during World War II, causing a political crisis within Congress.
Canada is in the middle of a scandal after Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the country. In the middle of the session organized by the Canadian Parliament on September 22 to show its support for the Ukrainian people, a tribute was opened to Yaroslav Hunka, 98 years old, presented by Rota as a former fighter who fought against the Soviet Union . to achieve the independence of Ukraine.
However, over the weekend it emerged that Hunka had joined World War II in a unit of Ukrainian volunteers fighting under the orders of Hitler’s Germany.
“This public recognition hurts people and communities, including the Jewish community in Canada and around the world. from his guest, who was contacted because he is part of the Ukrainian community.
“This is something that brings shame and embarrassment to the entire Parliament and, indeed, to all Canadians. The speaker did the honorable thing by resigning,” said Karina Gould, leader of the Government in Parliament, who emphasized the fact that Rota had invited Hunka without prior notification to other authorities and without the knowledge of any official.
“The only winner here is the Putin regime”
Moscow did not ignore diplomatic oversight. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the event was “deplorable” for Russia, pointing to the alleged lack of memory in Western societies about the role of the Soviet Union in the defeat of the Nazi front.
“Many Western countries, including Canada, are raising a young generation that doesn’t know who fought against whom or what happened during World War II. And they don’t have aware of the threat of fascism,” Peskov told local media.
https://twitter.com/RussianEmbassyC/status/1706812628935360808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Some observers pointed out that the indifference of the Canadian parliamentary spokesperson gave rise to the Russian version of the intervention in Ukraine, claiming that Moscow is conducting a military operation to protect the Russian population in the territories of Ukraine from of alleged neo-Nazi power groups.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called his enemies in Ukraine “neo-Nazis,” even though Zelensky is of Jewish descent and lost family members during World War II. “It’s very sad and the only winner here is the Putin regime, which has already reversed what happened on Friday to justify its ongoing military actions in Ukraine,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal. before the Associated Press.
Criticism of Justin Trudeau
Although the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, described the incident as “very embarrassing” for his country, the conservative political opposition pointed to him as responsible for the event, which revealed the lack of investigation by the government by allowing the a former member of the SS. to Parliament.
“Canada’s reputation has been shattered. This is the biggest blow to Canada’s diplomatic reputation in its entire history and it happened under Justin Trudeau,” exclaimed opposition leader Pierre Poilievre.
The incident has put the spotlight on the Trudeau Government, which is not going through the best of times in terms of its popularity among Canadians. A period that the opposition could use to try to remove the liberal wing from power in the next federal election.
