Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has fended off further questions about the controversial Nazi veteran who was invited to the House of Commons last fall.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre demanded that Mr. Trudeau resign, as did former Speaker of the House of Commons Anthony Rota.
Mr Rota resigned after Yaroslav Hunka was praised in a speech in the House of Commons at the invitation of Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky.
Media reported that the Prime Minister’s Office also invited Yaroslav Hunka to a reception in Toronto, in honor of Mr. Zelensky, the same day.
Mr. Hunka, a Ukrainian veteran of Canadian origin, fought in a volunteer unit created by the Nazis during the Second World War.
During question period, the Conservative leader said Justin Trudeau himself had asked Mr. Rota to step down amid the uproar. Mr. Poilievre suggested that the Prime Minister follow suit.
“Will he hold himself to the same standards and admit that he is not fit for this position? » asked the Conservative leader.
Justin Trudeau tried to reverse the situation, well aware of the imminence of a vote on the renewal of a trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine which the Conservatives have opposed for months.
“He chooses not to stand with Ukraine, not to stand with Ukrainians and not to stand with Ukrainian Canadians. Why are they abandoning Ukraine? »
The Prime Minister’s Office says Mr. Hunka, who was not at the reception in Toronto, was among hundreds of potential guests recommended by diaspora groups like the Congress of Ukrainian Canadians.
The Russian embassy in Ottawa was quick to seize on the controversy by posting a message that appeared to blame Justin Trudeau for the entire affair.