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Canada’s Speaker of the House, Anthony Rota, has officially resigned after last week’s incident in which he honoured a man who fought for the Nazis during WWII at the House of Commons.
It happened last Friday during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Ottawa. Rota invited the 98-year-old man, Yaroslav Hunka, to the House and took a moment to honour him in front of Zelenskyy as a Ukrainian who fought against the Russians during WWII.
It was soon revealed that Hunka served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician), a Nazi Germany volunteer military formation. Hunka emigrated to Canada after the war and now lives in Rota riding of Nipissing-Timiskaming.
After the truth about Hunka began to circulate, Rota issued an apology on Saturday, in which he says the decisions to invite Hunka was entirely his own and that he did not inform the Prime Ministers Office, the Ukrainian delegation, or any other members of parliament of his decision.
“I particularly want to extend my deepest apologies to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world,” said Rota in the statement.
MPs from across party lines have been calling for Rota’s resignation ever since Friday. The announcement came today following a meeting with all parties, Rota, and Prime Minister Trudeau.
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