Roving Periscope: After Khalistanis, Ukrainian Nazi’s welcome haunts Canada
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Amid the Canada-India row on the Khalistani issue, the North American nation’s Lower House of Parliament has apologized for ‘honoring’ a Ukrainian veteran Nazi last week, the media reported on Monday.
Canadian House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota apologized to the Jewish community after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was criticized for ‘accidentally honoring’ a veteran of a Nazi division. The apology came after Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre pointed out Trudeau’s “appalling error in judgment.”
After Poilievre dubbed as an “appalling error of judgment” PM Trudeau’s meeting and honoring the Nazi veteran, Speaker Rota apologized to the Jewish community in Canada and elsewhere on Sunday.
This incident occurred last week when PM Trudeau met with and honored a veteran of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, a Ukrainian Nazi division, during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Canada. Poilievre took to social media and demanded an apology from the Prime Minister.
In his tweet, Poilievre said Liberals arranged for a Nazi veteran to be recognized on the floor of the House of Commons during Zelenskyy’s visit. He emphasized that it was an “appalling error in judgment” on Trudeau’s part, as the Prime Minister’s office is responsible for arranging and vetting all guests and programming for state visits.
The Canadian-based human rights group, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC), also expressed outrage on microblogging platform X, stating that it was “appalled that Canada’s Parliament gave a standing ovation to a Ukrainian veteran who served in a Nazi military unit during the Second World War implicated in the mass murder of Jews and others.”
Speaker Rota regretted recognizing an individual in the gallery during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address at the Canadian Parliament, a decision he made independently.
Rota clarified that no one, including fellow parliamentarians and the Ukrainian delegation, was aware of his intention or remarks before he delivered them. He took full responsibility for his actions and expressed deep apologies.
During his address to the Canadian Parliament, President Zelenskyy stressed the importance of ending Russia’s aggression and expressed gratitude for Canada’s continued support of Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression.
Zelenskyy, accompanied by Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska, received a standing ovation upon their arrival in the House of Commons.
In his address at the Canadian Parliament, Zelenskyy said that Russian aggression “must end with our victory so that Russia will never bring back genocide to Ukraine”. “Moscow must lose once and for all and it will lose,” he said.
