By Pepper Parr
September 28th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Sometimes the photo op is an unfortunate mistake.
Burlington’s MP Karina Gould chose to take part in this photo op with the Speaker of the House of Commons, and a person identified as the son of Yaroslav Hunka who has been identified as a man who fought for the Germans in Ukraine during WWII.
Burlington MP Karina Gould, Speaker Anthony Rota and Yaroslav Hunka with his son standing behind him.
The Speaker of the House is being blamed for not vetting the man thoroughly. Some are saying that all it took to learn just who Yaroslav Hunka was is a quick Google search.
Yaroslav Hunka is a Ukrainian World War II veteran of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, a Nazi Germany military formation. Hunka was born in Urman, then part of Poland, and volunteered for SS Galizien in 1943. He emigrated to Canada after the conclusion of World War II.
Division members are accused of killing Polish and Jewish civilians, although the unit has not been found guilty of any war crimes by a tribunal.
The unit was renamed the First Ukrainian Division before surrendering to the Western Allies in 1945.
The division was later known as the 1st Ukranian Division, the historian Olesya Khromeychuk wrote in a 2012 article for the Canadian Slavic Papers journal, and its legacy has been disputed for years. Khromeychuk wrote that the division’s veterans “are often portrayed as traitors, opportunists and war criminals,” while others see them as people who chose “the lesser of two evils” during the war by joining the Germans “to defend their motherland against the Soviet invasion and build a nucleus for the Ukrainian army.”
Dominique Arel, chair of Ukrainian studies at the University of Ottawa, told CBC News that the division Mr Hunka was part of had attracted thousands of Ukrainian volunteers, many joining with hopes they could achieve Ukrainian independence.
The Speaker, Anthony Rota, was very expansive when he was introducing Yaroslav Hunka.
At one point, Mr. Rota pointed to Mr. Hunka who sat in the gallery, saying the man was “a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service”.
Crown in on the floor of the house of Commons recognizing Yaroslav Hunka standing in the gallery.
The introduction resulted in two standing ovations with every Member of the House of Commons taking part along with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Speaker Anthony leaving the Speaker’s Chair.
Several days later, the Speaker apologized for the comments he made; that proved to be less than Members of the House of Commons. A day later Anthony Rota resigned as Speaker.
Liberal MP and House Leader Karina Gould called the situation “deeply embarrassing for Canada” and called on all parties in Parliament to agree to remove the recognition of Yaroslav Hunka from the official record of the House of Commons.
She also said the government would have vetted everyone who attended the speech for security concerns, but was not responsible for deciding to recognize Hunka.
The House of Commons protocol team — comprised of non-partisan bureaucratic staff — was responsible for collecting lists of invitees from various parties and the Speaker’s office, and sending them to the Parliamentary Protective Services (PPS), one government official explained.
The individual referenced was invited and recognized by the Speaker. The government and the Ukrainian delegation had no prior knowledge of this.”
The PPS did not respond to questions about the incident.
“Members did so because we took the Speaker’s word that this individual should indeed be granted this honour in good faith.”
Yaroslav Hunka accepting the accolades from a Joint Session of the Commons
In a statement, Rota said that on 22 September “in my remarks following the address of the president of Ukraine, I recognized an individual in the gallery.
“I have subsequently become aware of more information which causes me to regret my decision to do so.”
Mr. Rota said that “no one, including fellow parliamentarians and the Ukraine delegation, was aware of my intention or of my remarks before I delivered them. This initiative was entirely my own, the individual in question being from my riding and having been brought to my attention.”
Liberal MPs, including House Leader Karina Gould, accused the Conservatives of ignoring Rota’s acknowledgement of blame, and implored the opposition to refrain from making the situation “partisan.”
Gould called the situation “deeply embarrassing for Canada” and called on all parties in Parliament to agree to remove the recognition of Hunka from the official record of the House of Commons. Gould said she felt “personally hurt,” given that she is a Jewish Canadian whose family survived the Holocaust and lost loved ones in the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.
She also said the government would have vetted everyone who attended the speech for security concerns, but was not responsible for deciding to recognize Hunka.
“There are many times when we recognize people in the gallery, and we do so on your good advice, on your good offices. And all of us here did that in the chamber on Friday because we trusted you on that,” Gould said, addressing Rota from the floor of the Commons.
“It is very important that we collectively work together to strike this recognition from the record, and I will work with my colleagues to do that.”
A grim faced Speaker Anthony Rota
In recognizing Hunka in the Commons, Rota referred to him as a 98-year-old from North Bay, Ont. He was later identified in an Associated Press photo caption as a member of what was known as the “Galicia” division of Nazi Germany’s Waffen SS.
In the 1980s, a public inquiry set up by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney examined allegations that war criminals from the Second World War had immigrated to Canada after the conflict. Although the broader German Waffen SS was determined to be a criminal organization during the Nuremberg war trials, the public inquiry concluded in 1986 that “mere membership” in the division was insufficient to justify prosecution for war crimes.
The inquiry also concluded that individual members of the division were screened before they emigrated to Canada, and that “charges of war crimes against members of the Galicia Division have never been substantiated.”
How did something like this happen?
And what was Karina Gould thinking when she went along with having her picture taken with Yaroslav Hunka. The man had no link with Burlington. While Gould did not know anything about Hunka when the picture was taken – there didn’t seem to be any reason for a picture to be taken. It had no relevance to her constituents.
What moved a graduate of Oxford University to suggest that everything that happened when and after Hunka was recognized be expunged from the public record. If anybody with a degree from world class university Gould knows and understands that civilized people don’t even think of trying to rewrite history. The Jewish community has been fighting that battle for decades.
Gould spoke at length in the House of Commons on September 25th. For the record we have set out what she said:
Burlington MP Karina Gould
September 25th, 2:20 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, as a descendant of Jewish Holocaust survivors, I am personally very hurt by the fact that this chamber recognized this individual. I am sure that everyone feels the same way in this chamber.
September 25th, 2:20 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, like all members of this chamber, I am incredibly disappointed in the fact that this individual was invited. As you yourself, Mr. Speaker, confirmed, this individual was recognized in the gallery. I found out just like every other member in the House at that time that this individual was present. This is deeply embarrassing for us as parliamentarians, as Canadians. It is something that I think all of us take extremely seriously, and I would ask my hon. colleagues not to politicize this moment.
September 25th, 2:20 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, like every other member of the House, I was extremely disappointed by this situation. Personally, as a descendant of Jewish Holocaust survivors, I was very hurt, and I know everyone in the House was hurt too.
As the Leader of the Opposition knows, and as you mentioned, Mr. Speaker, it was your decision and yours alone. Neither the government nor the Ukrainian delegation was aware of the situation ahead of time.
We are all very disappointed by the situation.
September 25th, 2:25 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, everyone in the House is deeply hurt by what happened on Friday. We were all taken by surprise. This is something that is completely unacceptable. There are communities across Canada, including Jewish and Eastern European communities, for whom the Holocaust and the Second World War are particularly painful.
As a descendant of Jewish Holocaust survivors, I take this very seriously. I think this is an opportunity for us all to reflect—
September 25th, 2:25 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question.
As I mentioned, it was a very painful incident for everyone in the House and, of course, for all Canadians, especially those who have family members who were affected by the Holocaust, namely, the Jewish and Eastern European communities. This really hurts. Personally, I was disappointed by what happened.
I would like to ask everyone to deal with this responsibly.
September 25th, 2:25 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I know the Leader of the Opposition does not want to rely on the facts, but the facts in this situation are that the government had no prior knowledge that this individual was being invited, nor that he would be recognized.
If members go back and recall what happened on Friday, they will see that it was indeed the Speaker of the House who recognized this individual. We were all caught off guard. It is deeply embarrassing to this Parliament and to Canada. I ask that we all deal with this responsibly.
September 25th, 2:30 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I would again ask my hon. colleague to stick to the facts. We know and he knows, because you stated publicly and in this chamber, that it was your decision to invite this individual, your decision alone to recognize him in the chamber. We were all caught off guard on Friday.
Everyone in this chamber stood, because we trusted the Speaker to know who this was. At the same time, we must all take this seriously, and we must not politicize this. Communities are hurting, and we need to be there to be united at this time.
September 25th, 2:30 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, as a Canadian of Jewish origin, I have shared very clearly with the House on several occasions how disturbing this event is for me personally. I also know how disturbing it is for Canadians who are Jewish right across this country. Today, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, the Day of Atonement as we prepare for the New Year, this is particularly disturbing.
However, I have to correct my hon. colleague in the sense that the government was not aware this individual was invited. It was completely the prerogative of the Speaker; it was his decision, and we need to make sure the facts remain on the table.
September 25th, 2:35 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Karina Gould getting ready to speak in the House of Commons.
Mr. Speaker, as a Canadian of Jewish origin, I am extremely hurt by what happened last Friday. My grandfather is a survivor of Auschwitz. This is so very painful for me, and I know that it is also very painful for all members of the House. However, the facts are the facts. It was the Speaker of the House of Commons who invited this individual and decided to recognize his presence in the House. No one in government or in the Ukrainian delegation knew ahead of time that he was going to do that.
September 25th, 2:35 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I will repeat for my hon. colleague what I have already said because it is a matter of fact and the truth. Neither the government nor the Ukrainian delegation knew in advance that this individual was invited or that the Speaker of the House would draw attention to his presence during his speech. We have all been hurt by this incident and we are deeply disappointed by what happened. This has repercussions on parliamentarians, Canada, and of course Canada’s reputation in the world. Nonetheless, it is something that everyone must take seriously and—
September 25th, 2:35 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, let me continue to lay out the facts for this chamber.
It is a fact that the individual was not granted access to either the President of Ukraine or the Prime Minister of this country. He was specifically invited by the Speaker of the House, who did not make either the Government of Canada or the Ukrainian delegation aware. We all found out at the same time, when he was recognized in the chamber.
We are all deeply embarrassed by this. It has embarrassed Canada. We must reiterate our strong allyship for Ukraine, Ukrainian Canadians, and Jewish—
September 25th, 2:35 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I have tremendous respect for my colleague opposite. He was the Speaker, and he is the House leader now. He knows how this chamber operates.
He knows that the Speaker has prerogative for whom they invite to the Speaker’s gallery. The Parliamentary Protective Service followed all screening protocols to ensure the security of the event on Friday.
Nevertheless, neither the government nor the Ukrainian delegation was aware of that individual’s presence until he was recognized by the Speaker. Those are the facts.
September 25th, 2:40 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, as I have already stated, the Parliamentary Protective Service followed all screening protocols to ensure the security of last Friday’s event. I agree with the member opposite in that it was profoundly embarrassing for Parliament and for Canada that this individual was both invited and recognized. However, as the member knows, and as all members know, it was the Speaker of the chamber who decided to invite this individual and recognize him. We were all caught off guard, and we are all hurting because of it.
September 25th, 2:45 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, as a descendant of a Jewish Holocaust survivor, this is something that is profoundly disturbing and upsetting to me, as it is to everyone in Canada whose family has been impacted by the Holocaust and, indeed, to everyone around the world.
It is not lost on me that the President of Ukraine is Jewish and has also suffered the same way my family did, but I will reiterate to the member opposite that this was not the government’s decision, and it had no prior knowledge of this. It was a decision made by the Speaker of the House. He has apologized. We were all owed that apology because it was profoundly embarrassing—
September 25th, 2:45 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, as I have stated, I think the episode on Friday was one of profound embarrassment for parliamentarians and for all Canadians.
As has been stated clearly, the Parliamentary Protective Service did all of the required security protocols to ensure the security of the event.
However, neither the government nor the Ukrainian delegation was aware that this individual would be present in the gallery nor that he would be recognized, until such a time as the Speaker did that. The Speaker has made that public and clear, and we were owed and received an apology—
September 25th, 2:50 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Karina Gould doing damage control in the House of Commons.
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite knows, because she heard it from you this morning and from me several times today, that it was not the Prime Minister who either invited this individual or recognized him. She acknowledged that he was recognized during the Speaker’s remarks, because the facts of the matter are that this individual was invited by the Speaker of the House and was recognized by the Speaker of the House, who did this without informing either the Government of Canada or the Ukrainian delegation. This is profoundly embarrassing to us all, and we all need to take this seriously.
September 25th, 2:55 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, in fact, the Speaker has already clarified and expressed that this was his decision alone, that he did not inform the government or the Ukrainian delegation, that this was entirely his decision.
I cannot force Conservative members to believe what the facts are. I can only put them on the table as they are. They have been clearly outlined, and we will continue to stand by them, because that is the truth.
September 25th, 2:55 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I have clearly laid the facts on the table several times today.
In fact, the only person who invited this individual and decided to recognize him was the Speaker of the House. The Parliamentary Protective Service followed all security protocols to ensure the security of the event.
However, I agree with the member opposite that this should never have happened. It is profoundly embarrassing and disappointing to all members of the House and to all Canadians. To that end, we stand with all Canadian communities that are impacted, and of course with Ukraine.
September 25th, 3 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I can only share the facts and the truth. The truth and the facts are that, no, the government did not know that this individual was invited, nor that he was going to be recognized by the Speaker of the House.
As the member opposite heard the Speaker say earlier today, this individual was from his riding. He decided to recognize him. He did not inform either the government or the Ukrainian delegation. This has caused profound hurt and embarrassment to this chamber, to Canada and to Canadians from so many different backgrounds, Jewish Canadians, Canadians of Eastern European descent, Ukrainian Canadians and, of course, the President of Ukraine.
September 25th, 3 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague knows, because he listened to you this morning and he saw your message yesterday that you clarified that it was your personal initiative and that you had not notified the government that you were inviting this individual and drawing attention to his presence.
We are all deeply hurt. We are hurt as parliamentarians and as Canadians.
More importantly, communities across the country are hurt by this initiative of the Speaker of the House.
September 25th, 3 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, the truth is that neither the Prime Minister nor anyone in his cabinet or in the Ukrainian delegation knew in advance that this individual was invited or that he would be recognized by the Speaker of the House of Commons.
As I said many times, the Speaker of the House of Commons invited this individual of his own accord and he made the decision himself to recognize him. It was very painful for all of us, as parliamentarians, who were there and who were surprised by this decision.
It is painful for every Canadian who was affected by the Holocaust and the wars—
September 25th, 3:05 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, again, I would invite my colleagues on the Conservative benches to rely on the facts. You have laid out both in a statement as well as in an apology to the House that it was you who decided to invite this individual.
You decided to recognize him in this place without informing the government, the Ukrainian delegation or, indeed, any parliamentarian.
I think we are all profoundly hurt and embarrassed by this as are Canadians.
We need to take this seriously and not politicize it. We need to make sure that we are bringing Canadians together during this difficult time.
September 25th, 3:05 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, again, that hon. colleague would have seen your statement yesterday and heard your apology in the House today. The Speaker confirmed that this was his decision, and his decision alone, to invite this individual from his riding and to acknowledge him in the gallery. We were all caught off guard by this. We all stood and applauded, but this was not the individual we were led to believe he was. That is something that hurts all of us and embarrasses all of us, but there was no prior knowledge from the government.
September 25th, 3:05 p.m.
Guests in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague heard your statement this morning. He knows very well that this was your decision, and your decision alone, to invite this individual and to recognize him in the gallery, without informing the government, without informing the Ukrainian delegation.
We are profoundly hurt by this. We are profoundly embarrassed by this. I would ask that the Conservative colleagues pay attention to the facts, rely on the facts, and treat this matter with the seriousness that it deserves.
There are communities across the country that are hurting, and politicizing it helps no one.
September 25th, 3:10 p.m.
Rick O’Brien
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.
I would like to ask for unanimous consent to adopt the following motion.
I move that, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House, the recognition made by the Speaker of the House of an individual present in the galleries during the joint address to Parliament by His Excellency Volodymyr Zelenskyy be struck from the appendix of the House of Commons Debates of Thursday, September 21, 2023, and from any House multimedia recording.
That motion did not pass.
The photo op is used as often as possible by politicians of every stripe. It gets them re-elected.
This photo op didn’t work out that way – something that might give the elected class a reason to pause before they step in front of a camera.
She is toast in the next election
Ignorance is the problem…
A reasonably educated or aware person would deduce that any uniformed units raised in German occupied countries that were fighting against Russia, had a German military stamp.
They weren’t necessarily Nazis, they were fighting the Russians (Bolsheviks), which to them, were a more onerous enemy than the Germans, it was a case of helping the enemy of my enemy so to speak (inimicus inimico).
Fun Fact: Germany and Russia had horrible and cruel governments that were actually allies, and divided up all the little countries between them, until they had a falling out… for many Ukrainians, Latvians etc., Russia was the lesser of two evils.
And look at Russia today, looting, raping, deporting, torturing, killing… and that’s just against civilians!
Perhaps you can see what motivated some occupied-europeans during the war.
At any rate the subject so called “Nazi” Ukrainian unit, refused Nazi indoctrination and insisted on only fighting Russia, or else it was a “no go”. So, really, you had to be there to know WTF was going on.
And oh yeah… if the Parliamentary Speaker hadn’t been trolling for votes in his home constituency of North Bay (though he’s not supposed to meddle in such things while the speaker), he wouldn’t have got himself or every other Canadian in Doo-Doo.
And all the MP’s clapping like trained seals? …That’s on them.
There is no need to regurgitate all that has been said regarding this very unfortunate situation. As I understand it as of yesterday September 27, 2023 Prime Minister Trudeau had not called President Zelenskyy, something I believe is beyond unfortunate. It also took the Prime Minister forever to appear in the House of Commons to offer an apology on behalf of Canadians, but not himself or his government.
I found trying to erase the record of the recognition from Hansard the most odious of all, as that is something that happens in a banana republic.
When many people were jumping on the bandwagon to tear down Sir John A. McDonald’s statues the first thing I did was to go to Hansard to see what the actual record contained about one of our Prime Ministers. Anyone who took the time to do so would soon know that far too many people jumped on the bandwagon without doing any research on the man whatsoever. Erasing the record does not erase the deed.
There is a Ukrainian population in Burlington.
The Mayor stands with them and lights the pier Yellow and Blue.
I guess Karina wanted in on the action.
I actually can understand how the House of Commons all clapped for this guy. That’s on the Speaker.
Calling to have the record deleted, that’s on Karina.
Not playing politics who does Karina think she is fooling?
She should have been calling for the Speakers’ resignation on Monday.
When the Conservative MP’s met with a right-wing member of the EU parliament,
the Liberals had no problem playing politics. Even after PP reprimanded his own MPs.