When Ukraine’s past haunts Canada’s present

The last few weeks have been cruel to speakers of legislatures in North America. Anthony Rota had to resign as speaker after inviting a Ukrainian Nazi as a war hero to the Canadian House of Commons. Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the top job in the US House of Representatives, a first in American history.

Perhaps Rota could console himself that a parliamentary speaker’s resignation is not uncommon in Canadian politics, as his is at least the seventh in the history of the Great White North.

Many commentators have argued McCarthy’s sacking, made possible by a small group of alt-right conservatives from his own Republican Party, was ultimately rooted in the fractured state of domestic US politics.

In contrast, the Canadian fiasco was just a really bad joke. To be sure, it has made its parliament an international laughing stock, a huge national embarrassment – but no more than that. Right?

Well, not quite. It seems the ruling Liberal government and the national press have been more than reluctant to resurrect Canada’s dark past with Ukraine that may have a direct impact on Ottawa’s current gung-ho policy on the Russia-Ukraine war. So no, it’s a lot more serious than just Rota’s indiscretion.

But first, let’s recall his sin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a North American tour last month. He was invited to address the Canadian parliament at which Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian veteran who fought in a volunteer unit under Nazi command, was also invited.