On September 22, during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to the Canadian Parliament, Yaroslav Hunka, an elderly Ukrainian immigrant living in Canada was given a standing ovation for fighting “for Ukrainian independence against the Russians in the Second World War.” According to a relative of Hunka’s, he was even granted a private audience with both Zelenskyy and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It was later revealed that Hunka is a veteran of the 14th division of Hitler’s Waffen-SS (1st Galician). This particular division was involved in mass murders of Polish, Jewish, and Ukrainian people. In 1944, Heinrich Himmler spoke of the division’s “willingness to slaughter Poles,” as highlighted in a Forward article.
Also in 1944, three months before Himmler’s comment, the 14th division of the Waffen-SS perpetrated the Huta Pieniacka massacre, burning up to 1,000 Polish people alive.
On Friday, Canadian Speaker of the House of Commons Anthony Rota declared Hunka a “Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero.” “We thank him for all his service,” he said, adding beforehand that he was “proud” that the man lived in his electoral district.
Following numerous calls for his resignation, Rota stepped down on September 26.
Hunka’s celebration in the Canadian parliament generated an international scandal, resulting in mass denunciations of Canadian leaders such as Rota and Trudeau. Even Poland’s Education Minister announced he is “taking steps” towards Hunka’s extradition.
Anthony Rota issued an apology following the controversy, appearing to take sole responsibility for the incident and essentially absolving all other Canadian officials of guilt. “I have subsequently become aware of more information which causes me to regret my decision,” Rota stated, emphasizing that “no one, including fellow parliamentarians and the Ukraine delegation, was aware of my intention or of my remarks before I delivered them.”
“That’s definitely convenient for Canada’s political class,” writes Ali Abunimah in Electronic Intifada, touching on the larger issue of Nazi apologia in the Canadian government and Canada as a whole, “who can now all pretend they had no idea how deeply entrenched veneration of the Waffen SS Galicia division is among many in Canada’s politically influential Ukrainian diaspora.”
Trudeau has used Rota’s apology as an opportunity to distance himself personally from the incident. “The independent speaker of the House has apologized and accepted full responsibility for issuing the invitation and for the recognition in Parliament. This was the right thing to do,” Trudeau’s office stated. A government representative, Karina Gould, has also denied that the Prime Minister had a private audience with Hunka.
Trudeau also took the opportunity to bizarrely blame “Russian disinformation” for the controversy. The Prime Minister told press that, “I think particularly of Jewish MPs and all members of the Jewish community across the country who are… commemorating Yom Kippur today, I think it’s gonna be really important that all of us push against Russian propaganda, Russian disinformation and continue our steadfast and unequivocal support for Ukraine.”
