Canada’s House speaker quits after praising Nazi soldier in parliament
Foreign minister had demanded Anthony Rota step down after ‘embarrassing’ nation by saying Ukrainian SS veteran was a war hero
ByAndrew Buncombe26 September 2023 • 4:59pm
Anthony Rota, Canada’s House of Commons speaker, has apologised but resisted growing calls to quit CREDIT: BLAIR GABLE/REUTERS
The Speaker of Canada’s House of Commons resigned on Tuesday, just days after he publicly praised a former Nazi soldier in Parliament in an incident that Russia seized on to justify its invasion of Ukraine.
Anthony Rota, a member of prime minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party, said his resignation would take effect on Wednesday. Until then a deputy speaker will be in charge.
Mr Rota told lawmakers he had made a mistake by inviting ex-soldier Yaroslav Hunka, 98, to attend a session in the House honouring
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, last Friday.
Yaroslav Hunka, 98, a Waffen SS veteran, is given a standing ovation by the Canadian parliament
Mr Rota publicly recognised Mr Hunka, calling him a hero. Members of Parliament from all parties rose to applaud Mr Hunka, unaware of the details of who he was.
But the speaker’s position rapidly became untenable after it emerged that the former soldier had served in one of Adolf Hitler’s Waffen SS units during the
Second World War. Russia called the incident outrageous.
“That public recognition has caused pain to individuals and communities, including the Jewish community in Canada and around the world ... I accept full responsibility for my actions,” Mr Rota said.
The episode played into the narrative promoted by Russian president Vladimir Putin that he sent his army into Ukraine last year to “demilitarise and denazify” the country, a charge Kyiv and Western allies say is baseless.
Mr Zelenskyy is Jewish and lost relatives in the Holocaust.
Anthony Rota greets Volodymyr Zelensky, who thanked Canada for the billions of dollars in aid and weapons it has given Ukraine CREDIT: Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press/AP
The furore over Mr Hunka tarnished the Ukrainian leader’s visit to Canada, which saw him thank the country for the billions of dollars in aid and weapons it has provided since Russia invaded in February 2022.
Melanie Joly, the foreign minister, earlier said Mr Rota should resign while prime minister Justin Trudeau called on him to ponder his future.
Although opposition parties blamed what they called failings by Mr Trudeau’s Liberal government for the affair, Mr Rota said he took sole responsibility for what had happened.
Mr Hunka lives in Mr Rota’s parliamentary constituency.
During his own speech during Friday’s parliamentary session, Mr Zelensky told Canadian lawmakers that “Moscow must lose once and for all”.
“And it will lose,” Mr Zelensky added, before praising Canada for having always been on the “bright side of history”.
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