Anthony Rota had to resign after the scandal sparked by the tribute he paid by mistake, in the presence of Volodymy Zelensky, to a former Ukrainian-Canadian veteran who had fought with the Nazis.
No other choice but resignation for the Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons, Anthony Rota. He committed the irreparable on Friday September 22, during the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski. Veteran politician Anthony Rota has paid tribute to a former Ukrainian-Canadian soldier who fought alongside the Nazis during the Second World War.
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The scene took place on the benches of the House of Commons in Ottawa. Yaroslav Hunka, 98 years old, moved to tears when everyone stands up to applaud him: elected officials, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Ukrainian president and his wife. And an ovation provoked by the vibrant tribute from Anthony Rota, who chairs the assembly. “We have here with us today a Ukrainian-Canadian veteran of the Second World War, who fought for the independence of Ukraine against the Russians. He is a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero and we thank him for his service. THANKS !”did he declare.
From a speech full of emphasis – and above all erroneous – Anthony Rota moved on to flat apologies announcing his resignation the following Tuesday. “I subsequently became aware of more information that led me to regret my decision to highlight this individual. I would like to apologize to the House and I would like to add that this initiative is the result of my sole decision”apologized the President of the Canadian Parliament.
Soldiers detained by the British government then exfiltrated to Canada
If Anthony Rota insists on his sole responsibility in this affair it is because Canadian conservatives believe that Justin Trudeau and his government should have anticipated and controlled the ceremony. Justin Trudeau who himself reacted and speaks of a “deeply embarrassing error”. This ceremony produced the opposite of the expected effect. At the very beginning of the Ukrainian conflict, Vladimir Putin spoke of “denazification” of Ukraine. The past of Yaroslav Hunka, who volunteered to join the SS Galicia Division, during the Second World War, fully serves the rhetoric of the Kremlin, which hastened to react by shouting “scandal”. The Canadian opposition is unleashed on “uncultured” by Anthony Rota. He could not have failed to know that a Ukrainian war veteran, fighting at the time against Russia, was necessarily on the side of the Nazis.
This man ended up in Canada without being tried. It is on this point that the debate is now most heated in the country. The Nuremberg Tribunal ruled that the leaders of this SS Galicia division had been directly involved in the Holocaust. But many soldiers escaped justice. Soldiers detained by the British government until the end of the 1940s. The British leaders wanted to exfiltrate them. Archives, declassified in 2005, are very clear. In a note from the Ministry of the Interior at the time “we still hope to get rid of the less desirable Ukrainian prisoners of war, either in Germany or Canada.”. This is how between 400 and 600 Ukrainian soldiers ended up in Western Canada. Poland is today requesting the extradition of Yaroslav Hunka. And thanks to Anthony Rota, Canada, stunned, discovered the existence, on its soil, of monuments erected in honor of these Ukrainian soldiers.