“Extremely upsetting”, says PM Justin Trudeau on honouring Nazi veteran

Canada finds itself amidst new political controversy as the Canadian Parliament honoured a Nazi Veteran when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Canada last week. Trudeau was criticized for meeting and honouring a veteran of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (a Nazi division).

Yaroslav Hunka, 98, received two standing ovations from Canadian lawmakers and was called a ‘hero’ by House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota during Zelenskiyy’s visit. However, Rota later clarified that he was unaware of Hunka’s Nazi ties and made a mistake in inviting him to attend the event.

Trudeau calls it extremely upsetting…

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke on the honouring of the veteran Nazi soldier and said that it was a deeply embarrassing incident and that it was “extremely upsetting that this happened”, as per media reports.

“This is something that is deeply embarrassing to the parliament of Canada and by extension to all Canadians,” said the Canadian Prime Minister.

The speaker of the House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota also apologised for this incident and is now facing calls to resign from the opposition politicians. Trudeau has, however, not called for Rota to step down, who belongs to the prime minister’s Liberal party.

Parliament speaker apologises

Rota also said that this initiative was his alone to make and that he takes full responsibility for it.

“No one, including fellow parliamentarians and the Ukraine delegation, was aware of my intention or of my remarks before I delivered them,” he said.

“This initiative was entirely my own, the individual in question being from my riding [district] and having been brought to my attention,” he added.

According to media reports, following his statement the Canadian Jewish group the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs responded by saying that they appreciated the apology and added that proper measures should be taken to prevent such mistakes from happening in the future.

Kremlin outrageous on honouring of Nazi veteran

Russia has also spoken on this incident of honouring a 98-year-old Nazi Veteran and called it “outrageous”. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that this incident brings light to the carelessness in regard to historical truth and that the memory of the Nazi crimes must be preserved properly.

Russia to seek clarification from Canada over honour to Nazi veteran

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“Such sloppiness of memory is outrageous,” Peskov told reporters. “Many Western countries, including Canada, have raised a young generation that does not know who fought whom or what happened during the Second World War. And they know nothing about the threat of fascism.”