Canada has been in touch with 'Ukrainian friends' after Parliament recognized Nazi veteran: Trudeau
Canada feels 'extraordinary regret' over the incident, Trudeau says
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that Canada has made contact with Ukrainian officials in the days since Parliament celebrated a veteran of a Nazi unit in the presence of Ukraine's president.
Trudeau said Canada is one of Ukraine's "strongest allies" and Ukraine's leaders "full well know that," despite the embarrassing episode.
He said Canada has provided roughly $9.5 billion in support to Ukraine since the outbreak of the war — a sizeable financial commitment that shows Canada is a credible ally.
"Obviously, since this terrible incident happened on Friday, we have been in close connection with our Ukrainian friends and counterparts," Trudeau told a press conference following an electric vehicle announcement in Quebec.
"We've expressed, obviously, the extraordinary regret that all of Canada shares that this would have happened and reassured them that we continue to stand incredibly strong with Ukraine in its fight against Russia."
A senior government official told CBC News that Trudeau has not spoken personally to Zelenskyy since the mishap.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has spoken to her Ukrainian counterpart and staffers from the Prime Minister's Office have been in contact with Zelenskyy's staff, the source said.
Since the start of the conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made the bogus claim that Russia's military campaign is really about rooting out Nazi elements in Ukraine.
The image of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy standing in Canada's Parliament to applaud Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old who served in a Nazi division during the Second World War, has been a rich source of Russian propaganda.
Zelenskyy is Jewish and lost relatives in the Holocaust.
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy — who favours ending U.S. support for Ukraine and forcing that country to make major concessions to Russia — pounced on Zelenskyy's presence in Parliament when Hunka was honoured.
"This is a country whose president just last week was hailing a Nazi in his own ranks," Ramaswamy said.
Former Speaker Anthony Rota said he alone was responsible for inviting Hunka, a constituent who lives in North Bay, Ont.
He said the Ukrainian delegation did not know that this former Waffen-SS soldier would be celebrated by Parliament. Rota resigned on Tuesday.
Hunka's past military service wasn't widely known until Sunday, when media outlets, including CBC News, cited an article he'd written about the division.
In question period Thursday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Trudeau is "seen as a clown around the world" because of the Hunka incident.
Poilievre has tried to blame Trudeau and his office personally for the incident. He said the guest list should have been closely vetted. Rota's office has said the the former Speaker's picks were processed by corporate security.
"Whether you blame him or the former Liberal Speaker for recognizing a Nazi on the floor of the House of Commons, we all agree it took him five days — five days — while he hid under a rock and let our reputation be torn to tatters," Poilievre said.
The Conservatives are intent on looking into how the Hunka incident happened.
Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie will ask the Commons' government operations and estimates committee to probe the issue at a meeting later Thursday.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With a file from CBC's Raffy Boudjikanian
