Anthony Rota’s time as speaker of the House of Commons in Ottawa appears to be numbered, as several ministers in the Trudeau government and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre openly call for his resignation.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, indicated Tuesday morning that there is “no alternative” to the departure of Mr. Rota as Speaker of the Commons. She told journalists that the latter should leave his post for having invited a former combatant to a Nazi unit during the Second World War.
“If I were in President Rota’s shoes, I would resign,” added the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Diane Lebouthillier, entering the cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The leader of the government, Karine Gould, also said that the man does not have the support of the Liberals to remain in office.
The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (PCC), Pierre Poilievre, has also been demanding this departure since Tuesday.
“Trudeau (and his Liberal president) have brought shame on Canada. The liberal president will have to resign,” the opposition leader wrote in a message on his social networks.
The day before, the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party (NDP) both called for the resignation of the Speaker of the House of Commons. Anthony Rota apologized profusely, but did not resign.
He instead took the blame for the embarrassing invitation from Yaroslav Hunka, 98, before presenting him as having “fought for the independence of Ukraine against the Russians” during the Second World War. He was applauded by all federal elected officials and even by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who visited Ottawa last Friday.
The CCP did not immediately call for Rota’s resignation, but instead blamed the government and the prime minister himself for failing to carry out the necessary checks.
“ [L’appel à sa démission] does not excuse the fact that Justin Trudeau did not ensure that his enormous diplomatic and intelligence apparatus verified and prevented the honoring of a Nazi,” Mr. Poilievre added on Tuesday.
A meeting of party leaders requested by the Bloc Québécois will take place at noon on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed.
“It is a good thing that the President apologized but I am confident that he is thinking about how to maintain the dignity of the House for the future,” Mr. Trudeau simply indicated upon his arrival in Parliament.
More details will follow.