The leader of the House of Commons of Canada, Anthony Rota, resigned this Tuesday after inviting a veteran of the Nazi Waffen SS unit to be present in Parliament during a speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“No one in this House is above any of us. Therefore, I must resign as Speaker,” Anthony Rota told parliamentarians, adding: “I reiterate my deep regret for my mistake in recognizing a person in the House during the Zelensky’s joint speech to Parliament”.
“This public recognition has caused pain to individuals and communities, including the Jewish community in Canada and around the world, as well as Nazi survivors in Poland, among other nations. I accept full responsibility for my actions,” he added.
Rota left office after meeting party leaders in the House of Commons.
Shortly after the Ukrainian president gave a speech in the House of Commons on Friday, Canadian parliamentarians gave 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka a standing ovation as Rota introduced him as a war hero who fought for the First Ukrainian Division during the Second World War. a division that fought alongside the war machine of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime.
The First Ukrainian Division was also known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division, or the 14th Waffen SS Division, a volunteer unit that was under Nazi command.
All the main opposition parties called for his resignation and the leader of the Government in the House, Karina Gould, also considered that legislators had lost confidence in Rota.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly also called for the House Speaker to resign.
“It is completely unacceptable. It was a shame for the House and for Canadians, and I think Rota should listen to the members of the House and step aside,” explained Joly, who has already discussed this episode with the Ukrainian government.
The Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies also called for Rota to resign, saying the invitation to a former member of the Waffen-SS “leaves a stain on Canada’s venerable Assembly.”
Source: TSF
