By Dylan Paulson, Newswire Intern

The Canadian Parliament faced backlash this past week as Anthony Rota, the Speaker of Canada’s House of Commons, resigned after inviting a Ukrainian man who fought alongside a Nazi unit in World War II to the parliament. 

The individual, Yaroslav Hunka, was given a standing ovation after Rota called him a “hero” following a speech given by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. Rota said that he was unaware of Hunka’s ties to the Nazis, and made a mistake inviting him to the speech. 

“No one in this House is above any of us. Therefore I must step down as your speaker,” Rota said in Parliament. “I reiterate my profound regret for my error in recognizing an individual in the House during the joint address to Parliament of President Zelensky.”

Hunka fought with the Waffen-SS Galicia Division in World War II, a voluntary unit made up of mostly ethnic Ukrainans under Nazi command. There is still some confusion within the Canadian government as to how Hunka was able to receive an invitation, and whether or not his position in the Waffen-SS had been known before he was called into the Parliament. 

 The incident has sparked backlash not just from the Canadian people but also those within the Canadian Parliament. Canadian House leader Karina Gould said of the issue, “This is something that has brought shame and embarrassment to all of Parliament and indeed all Canadians.”

“We fully accept Mr Rota’s apology and believe that he didn’t intend to cause harm but, unfortunately, there are very real consequences to his lapse in judgment,” House leader for Canada’s New Democratic Party Peter Julian said.

In the following days, Trudeau has since publicly apologized, reiterating that Canada stands in solidarity with its Jewish population as well as with Ukraine, and that Canada had no idea how this happened. 

“He should not make it personal; there is nothing he personally did wrong, but the event embarrassed the country and as PM he takes responsibility,” University of Toronto professor Robert Bothwell said.

There are concerns among the Liberal Party of Canada that the incident will paint Trudeau in a poor light in the midst of an already troubled time for the Prime Minister. Trudeau has been at the forefront of protests recently regarding COVID-19 policies as well as issues in schools, and many of his fellow party members believe that the incident may create the exact type of reaction needed for the Conservative Party to regain a foothold in Canada’s government. 

There is also concern that this event will hinder Trudeau’s image not just on the home front, but also abroad, with some of his spokespeople saying that it may place him in a difficult position with other world leaders moving forward. 

The speech itself, given by Ukranian President Zelensky, is part of a much broader campaign of pushing for more foreign aid from the West and from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to prevent Russia from pushing any deeper into their territory.

Amidst that increasingly devastating war in the East, concerns have circulated around how the incident may fuel anti-Ukrainian propaganda. The Russian government was furious at the event, with a Kremlin spokesperson calling the event “outrageous.” Zelensky and the Ukrainian government have given no comment at this time on the incident.

Following the resignation, the Canadian House of Commons elected Liberal Greg Fergus as their speaker yesterday, who became the first Black Canadian to hold that role.