Tories Seek Committee Study on Nazi Veteran Tribute in Parliament

Yaroslav Hunka (R) waits for the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Sept. 22, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Patrick Doyle)

The Conservatives hope to study in a committee what led to the House of Commons inviting and paying tribute to a Nazi veteran in late September.

Conservative MP Michael Cooper said he would table a motion to that effect before a meeting of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (PROC) on Oct. 5.

Mr. Cooper said a study needs to take place, given that “either proper vetting was not done or the individual’s military record was ignored.”

Then-House speaker Anthony Rota invited Yaroslav Hunka, 98, to attend the address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the House of Commons on Sept. 22. Mr. Rota also recognized Mr. Hunka’s contribution to fighting against the Russians during World War II.

It was later revealed that Mr. Hunka was a veteran of the Nazi Party’s Waffen-SS Galicia Division, a body accused of war crimes during the conflict.

“This was a particularly and exceptionally cruel unit that viciously murdered thousands of Jews and Poles in eastern Poland,” Liberal MP Irek Kusmierczyk said on Sept. 25.

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Mr. Rota had invited the man from his riding of Nipissing-Timiskaming and took responsibility by resigning as House Speaker.

Mr. Cooper’s motion calls for a number of government officials to testify before the committee, including representation from the Office of Protocol within Global Affairs Canada, which manages visits by foreign dignitaries.

He also seeks to hear from officials of various security organs responsible for vetting visitors to Parliament Hill, such as the RCMP and the Parliamentary Protective Service. Closer to the prime minister, the motion calls on officials from the Privy Council Office and The Office of the Prime Minister to testify.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has rejected any responsibility for the affair, putting the blame squarely on Mr. Rota. Mr. Trudeau offered apologies on behalf of Parliament on Sept. 27 for the dismay caused by the tribute.

Mr. Cooper also wants to hear from civilian society, with potential invites being sent to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, and the Canadian Polish Congress.

Mr. Cooper’s motion comes after Tories failed to get support from other parties to investigate the Hunka tribute in the government operations committee last week.

On top of causing consternation in Canada and elsewhere, the Hunka tribute has also been used by Russia in its war propaganda. The Kremlin had already claimed its operation in Ukraine was to “de-Nazify” the country.

A large number of Ukrainians fought with the Nazis against the Soviets in World War II. The Liberal government is currently under pressure to release the names of Nazi veterans who immigrated to Canada.

When asked on Oct.4 about declassifying the 1985 Deschenes report which looked at Nazi collaborators immigrating to Canada after the war, Immigration Minister Marc Miller replied, “There’s no excuse for delay, other than the fact that we do have to have a process where the declassification of these documents is done in a thoughtful way.”

Another reported Nazi veteran of the Galicia Division, Peter Savaryn, was awarded the Order of Canada in 1987. Mr. Savaryn is the former chancellor of the University of Alberta. The Governor General apologized earlier this week after the publication Forward raised the issue.