Justin Trudeau faces backlash as man who fought for Nazis gets standing ovation in Canada parliament

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been facing severe backlash after a 98-year-old man who fought for the Nazis during World War II was given a standing ovation at the House of Commons last week. Yaroslav Hunka was recognised by speaker Anthony Rota as a war hero who fought for the First Ukrainian Division.

Rota called him a “Ukrainian hero and a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service" but after a Jewish human rights group pointed out that Hunka had served in a Nazi unit, Rota on Sunday apologised for his remarks. He added that Hunka is from his district and that his fellow Parliament members and the Ukraine delegation were not aware of his plan to recognise him.

This did not, however, stop the Opposition from holding Justin Trudeau responsible for the incident. Canada's leader of the opposition, Pierre Poilievre, hit out at him alleging that he “personally met with and honoured” Hunka. Calling it an “appalling error in judgment” on Trudeau's part, Poilievre said that the prime minister's personal protocol office is responsible for arranging and vetting all guests and programming for state visits of this kind.

"No parliamentarians (other than Justin Trudeau) had the opportunity to vet this individual’s past before he was introduced and honoured on the floor of the House of Commons. Without warning or context, it was impossible for any parliamentarian in the room (other than Mr. Trudeau) to know of this dark past," Poilievre wrote on X. "Mr. Trudeau must personally apologise and avoid passing the blame to others as he always does."

Meanwhile, the Jewish human rights group Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center demanded an apology for the incident and called for an explanation of how Hunka was cleared to enter the parliament.