Justin Trudeau apologises for recognition of Nazi unit war veteran in Canadian Parliament

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologised on Wednesday for Parliaments recognition of a man who fought alongside the Nazis during last weeks address by Ukraine President Volodymyr ZelenskyyTrudeau 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 CanadaAll of us who were in the House on Friday regret deeply having stood and clapped even though we did so unaware of the context 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 peopleTrudeau repeated the apology in Parliament Just after Zelenskyy delivered an address in the House of Commons on Friday Canadian lawmakers gave 98yearold 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 DivisionObservers over the weekend began to publicize the fact that the First Ukrainian Division also was known as the WaffenSS Galicia Division or the SS 14th Waffen Division a voluntary unit that was under the command of the NazisIt 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 Trudeau saidIn 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 neoNazis although Zelenskyy is Jewish and lost relatives in the HolocaustSpeaker of the House Anthony Rota stepped down on Tuesday after meeting with the House of Commons party leaders and after all of the main opposition parties called on him to resignHouse government leader Karina Gould said that Rota invited and recognized Hunka without informing the government or the delegation from Ukraine and that his lack of due diligence had broken the trust of lawmakersIn an earlier apology on Sunday Rota said he alone was responsible for inviting and recognising Hunka who is from the district that Rota represents The speakers office said it was Hunkas son who contacted Rotas local office to see if it was possible if he could attend Zelenskyys speechThe Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies has called the incident a stain on our countrys venerable legislature with profound implications both in Canada and globallyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever