Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologises for the events surrounding Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelenskyy’s visit at a media availability in Ottawa, Ontario, on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologised Wednesday, September 27, 2023, for Parliament’s recognition of a man who fought alongside the Nazis during last week’s address by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Mr. Trudeau said the speaker of the House of Commons, who resigned Tuesday, was “solely responsible” for the invitation and recognition of the man but said it was a mistake that has deeply embarrassed Parliament and Canada.

“All of us who were in the House on Friday regret deeply having stood and clapped, even though we did so unaware of the context,” Mr. Trudeau said before he entering the House of Commons. “It was a horrendous violation of the memory of the millions of people who died in the Holocaust, and was deeply, deeply painful for Jewish people.”

Mr. Trudeau repeated the apology in Parliament.

Just after Mr. Zelenskyy delivered an address in the House of Commons on Friday, Canadian lawmakers gave 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka a standing ovation when Speaker Anthony Rota drew attention to him. Rota introduced Hunka as a war hero who fought for the First Ukrainian Division.

Observers over the weekend began to publicise the fact that the First Ukrainian Division also was known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division, or the SS 14th Waffen Division, a voluntary unit that was under the command of the Nazis.

“It is extremely troubling to think that this egregious error is being politicised by Russia, and its supporters, to provide false propaganda about what Ukraine is fighting for,” Mr. Trudeau said.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this week that the standing ovation for Hunka was “outrageous,” and he called it the result of a “sloppy attitude” toward remembering the Nazi regime. Russian President Vladimir Putin has painted his enemies in Ukraine as “neo-Nazis,” although Zelenskyy is Jewish and lost relatives in the Holocaust.

Speaker of the House Anthony Rota stepped down on Tuesday, September 26, after meeting with the House of Commons’ party leaders, and after all of the main opposition parties called on him to resign.

House government leader Karina Gould said that Mr. Rota invited and recognszed Hunka without informing the government or the delegation from Ukraine, and that his lack of due diligence had broken the trust of lawmakers.

In an earlier apology on Sunday, Mr. Rota said he alone was responsible for inviting and recognising Hunka, who is from the district that Rota represents. The speaker’s office said it was Hunka’s son who contacted NMr. Rota’s local office to see if it was possible if he could attend Zelenskyy’s speech.

The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies has called the incident “a stain on our country’s venerable legislature with profound implications both in Canada and globally.” (

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recognize Yaroslav Hunka, who was in attendance in the House of Commons in Ottawa, Ontario, on September 22, 2023. The speaker of Canada’s House of Commons apologized on September 24, for recognizing Hunka, who fought for a Nazi military unit during World War II.
| Photo Credit: AP

The speaker of Canada’s parliament apologised on Sunday after he singled out a Ukrainian veteran alleged to have fought for the Nazis during World War II for a standing ovation during a visit by Ukraine’s leader.

The applause came as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Canadian parliament on Friday, as Speaker of the House Anthony Rota paid homage to Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian immigrant.

Mr. Rota hailed Mr. Hunka as “a Ukrainian Canadian war veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians” and “a Ukrainian hero and a Canadian hero.”

The remarks ignore “the horrific fact that Hunka served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, a Nazi military unit whose crimes against humanity during the Holocaust are well-documented,” the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) said Sunday.

The Jewish advocacy group called the incident “shocking” and “incredibly disturbing”.

“An apology is owed to every Holocaust survivor and veteran of the Second World War who fought the Nazis, and an explanation must be provided as to how this individual entered the hallowed halls of Canadian Parliament and received recognition from the Speaker of the House and a standing ovation,” it continued.

Mr. Rota, a Liberal MP, apologised on Sunday, saying that he had “subsequently become aware of more information” which caused him to “regret” his recognition of Mr. Hunka.

“This initiative was entirely my own … I particularly want to extend my deepest apologies to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world,” he said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office denied any involvement in the affair, reiterating its independence from that of the Speaker of the House and saying in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, that neither it nor the Ukrainian delegation had any advance notice of the incident.

That did not stop the leader of the opposition, Pierre Poilievre, from slamming an “error in judgement.”

Trudeau’s “personal protocol office is responsible for arranging and vetting all guests and programming for state visits of this kind,” the Conservative leader posted on X, calling on the Prime Minister to “personally apologise.”