Last week, Canadian lawmakers invited a Ukrainian Nazi into the House of Commons, then gave him two standing ovations. Though House Speaker Anthony Rota has rightly resigned after inviting former Waffen-SS member Yaroslav Hunka before Parliament, the MPs joined him in applauding the so-called “Canadian hero” for his service.
Rota has since claimed ignorance of Hunka’s past, but has yet to produce an explanation for his team’s failure to properly vet the man, who Rota identified as fighting against Russian forces in World War II.
Rota’s inadvertent, irresponsible normalization of Nazism is a threat to Jewish people, as well as others targeted by right-wing hate groups, including queer and trans people whose safety remains under threat in Canada.
As Liberal MPs and other politicians scramble to distance themselves from the Nazi violence they applauded, it’s time to call on them to uncover how this glaring oversight was allowed to proceed.
Jewish Canadians deserve transparency as to how this invitation occurred.
We invite all who are concerned about rising antisemitism and the normalization of Nazism to join IJV in fighting to prevent situations like this one from occuring in the future.