Canada’s Trudeau apologizes for Nazi veteran appearance at Zelenskyy speech to lawmakers

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada (AA) - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued “unreserved apologies” Wednesday on behalf of the country after a Nazi veteran was introduced and received a standing ovation during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s speech to Canadian lawmakers.

“It was a horrendous violation of the memory of the millions of people who died in the Holocaust. It was deeply, deeply painful for Jewish people ... and the many millions who were targeted by the Nazi genocide,” Trudeau told reporters on his way to a session of parliament. “Every year, there are fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors to share firsthand the horrors of what they experienced. And it is therefore incumbent upon us all to ensure that no one ever forgets what happened.”

The apology also applied to Poles, Roma and others targeted by Hitler’s Nazi regime.

Speaker of the House of Commons Anthony Rota invited Ukrainian veteran Yaroslav Hunka, 98, to Friday’s speech by Zelenskyy parliament, unaware that Hunka fought with the Nazis in a volunteer unit.

Rota called Hunka a “Canadian hero” and a “Ukrainian hero” and he was given a standing ovation by lawmakers and Zelenskyy.

Later, Hunka’s Nazi ties came to light. Rota apologized for Inviting him to parliament, but the resulting scandal led to Rota’s resignation Tuesday.

Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called the incident the “biggest single diplomatic embarrassment” in the country’s history and said it sullied Canada’s reputation worldwide.

The Jewish organization, Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said earlier that an apology would be “an important step” in mitigating the incident, as would a more careful vetting of those invited to parliament, CTV News reported.