Earlier today, we told you about how Ezra Levant sounded the alarm how the Canadian Parliament gave a standing ovation to an actual Nazi. Mind you, this isn’t the Leftist definition of ‘Nazi,’ which generally means ‘person to the right of Stalin who disagrees with me.’ This guy, Yaroslav Hunka, is 98 years old, he was actually in the Waffen SS, and he got a standing ovation for his service in World War II.
We also showed you Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons Anthony Rota give a warm introduction to this guy who literally fought to help the Nazis keep control of Ukraine in World War II:
8. Hunka was introduced to Parliament as a 98-year-old soldier “who fought… against the Russians… a hero.” pic.twitter.com/R8b0a1Gu2u
— Ezra Levant 🍁🚛 (@ezralevant) September 24, 2023
Well, the controversy was just starting to boil—and we are proud to have put a few logs on the fire—when Rota decided to fall on his sword:
HoC Speaker, Anthony Rota, says the decision to invite a Ukrainian veteran who served in a Nazi military unit in WW2 to Zelensky’s speech, was “entirely” his own.
— Mackenzie Gray (@Gray_Mackenzie) September 24, 2023
“I particularly want to extend my deepest apologies to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world” #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/n3pnwWwGdI
The text of it reads:
On Friday, September 22, in my remarks following the address of the President of Ukraine, I recognized an individual in the gallery.
I have subsequently become aware of more information which causes me to regret my decision to do so.
I wish to make clear that no one, including fellow parliamentarians and the Ukraine delegation, was aware of my intention or of my remarks before I delivered them.
This initiative was entirely my own, the individual in question being from my riding and having been brought to my attention.
I particularly want to extend my deepest apologies to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world.
I accept full responsibility for my actions.
Hon. Anthony Rota, M.P.
You know what, dear reader? We think this calls for a good old-fashioned Fisking. So, let’s go over that again, line-by-line, shall we?
On Friday, September 22, in my remarks following the address of the President of Ukraine, I recognized an individual in the gallery.
Of course, he doesn’t name this person, but pretty much everyone agrees this is about that Hunka-Hunka Nazism he honored in the gallery.
I have subsequently become aware of more information which causes me to regret my decision to do so.
He is not going to share what that information was because he doesn’t want to too clearly admit that he praised an actual Nazi right as Yom Kippur was getting started. (Pardon us if we show a bit of gentile ignorance, but we believe it started at sunset, tonight.)
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And was that really new information, Rota? Rota, as you will recall, actually praised Hunka for fighting the Soviet Union. He described him as a ‘Ukrainian war veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians.’ That would be America and Canada’s ally in World War II. It didn’t dawn on him that if this Hunka-Hunka Schutzstaffel was fighting Allied forces, that maybe, just maybe. he should check to make sure he wasn’t actually part of the Axis forces?
Seriously, does Canada not have Google?!
He goes on:
I wish to make clear that no one, including fellow parliamentarians and the Ukraine delegation, was aware of my intention or of my remarks before I delivered them.
This initiative was entirely my own, the individual in question being from my riding and having been brought to my attention.
In other words: ‘Don’t blame Zelensky or Trudeau, or the hundred or so parliamentarians clapping for a Nazi.’ That might be fair—maybe they didn’t know soon enough to get out their phones and do some quick Googling.
Or it might be just convenient.
I particularly want to extend my deepest apologies to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world.
That would be the only explicit hint that he praised a Nazi.
And, for the record, the Nazis killed more than just Jews. Of course, the Nazis focused the lion’s share of their evil and hatred on Jews. There’s nothing wrong with being more apologetic to them than most. But the Nazis also hated and killed numerous other groups, such as the Gypsies (Roma) and the handicapped. And really, you don’t have to belong to a group the Nazis hated and murdered to be offended—although it certainly helps. A better statement would have read, ‘I want to apologize to everyone who is offended, particularly those in our Jewish communities in Canada and around the world.’
He goes on, with the last line of substance in the letter:
I accept full responsibility for my actions.
And by ‘full responsibility’ he means he will issue this vague, mealy-mouthed apology and suffer absolutely no actual consequences. But, hey, you can trust this politician feels bad. Who would doubt the sincerity of a politician?
Who are we kidding? He probably only feels bad that he broke the eleventh commandment as explained (mockingly) by Martin Luther King, Jr.:
It’s all right to disobey the Ten Commandments, but just don’t disobey the eleventh, ‘Thou shall not get caught.’
Moving on from the Speaker’s statement, we also see some more mainstream coverage of this debacle:
House Speaker apologizes after MPs honour man who fought with Nazi unit - The Globe and Mail https://t.co/bp52Qg4i3i
— Andrew Blackie (@factualhonesty) September 24, 2023
So, don’t forget, you heard it first on Twitchy! So consider subscribing and you can read things like this before everyone else!
That article has this from Trudeau’s office:
A spokesperson from the Prime Minister’s Office said that ‘no advance notice was provided to the Prime Minister’s Office, nor the Ukrainian delegation, about the invitation or recognition.’ The Speaker and the PMO operate independently, the spokesperson said, adding that Mr. Rota chose his own guests, and taking ‘full responsibility’ was the ‘right thing to do.’
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, however, said Sunday that the prime minister also needed to ‘personally apologize’ for what he called ‘an appalling error in judgement.’ Mr. Poilievre pointed out that parliamentarians had no opportunity to vet the man’s past – a task for an important state visit that he said should have been handled by the Prime Minister’s Office. ‘Without warning or context, it was impossible for any parliamentarian in the room - other than Mr. Trudeau - to know of this dark past.’
And while Chrystia Freeland, the Minister of Finance, didn’t address the controversy, Mr. Levant went off on her when she put out a post celebrating Yom Kippur:
You led the cheering for a Nazi SS officer in Parliament on Friday.
— Ezra Levant 🍁🚛 (@ezralevant) September 24, 2023
You held a scarf for Nazi leader Stepan Bandera.
Your grandfather was a Nazi who stole a newspaper from a Jew and turned it into a hate machine, and you hid that fact.
Maybe sit this one out, fraulein. https://t.co/smwtc5AnQX
Meanwhile, the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies issued a statement:
The fact that a veteran who served in a Nazi military unit was invited to and given a standing ovation in Parliament is shocking. At a time of rising antisemitism and Holocaust distortion, it is incredibly disturbing to see Canada's Parliament rise to applaud an individual who was a member of a unit in the Waffen-SS, a Nazi military branch responsible for the murder of Jews and others and that was declared a criminal organization during the Nuremberg Trials. There should be no confusion that this unit was responsible for the mass murder of innocent civilians with a level of brutality and malice that is unimaginable.
An apology is owed to every Holocaust survivor and veteran of the Second World War who fought the Nazis, and an explanation must be provided as to how this individual entered the hallowed halls of Canadian Parliament and received recognition from the Speaker of the House and a standing ovation.
Ouch. G-d bless them for not mincing words. Weirdly we still can’t find a statement by the Anti-Defamation League. But we did find this:
The ADL went from calling Azov a neo-Nazi battalion to defending them. https://t.co/Nf1YlUgs0O pic.twitter.com/2AW4h9bxWW
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) September 24, 2023
As for the Speaker's apology, Twitter/X reactions were largely negative:
That's the definition of ignorance.
— Dave Thy Human (@lawnboy37) September 24, 2023
Indeed, when Twitchy posted the previous article on its official account one of those ‘we are the true conservative’ David-French-types chided us for supposedly repeating Russia propaganda:
Why is it necessary to honor an elderly Nazi to support Ukraine?
— (((Aaron Walker))) (@AaronWorthing) September 24, 2023
Seriously, you can be anti-Russia and anti-Nazi at the same time.
They are All disgraced now.
— Mary Donovan (@MaryDon55894508) September 24, 2023
I do not believe for a minute that this is entirely on him as the Speaker claims. I hope #cdnmedia keep digging.
— Mark O’Henly (@SeeClickFlash) September 24, 2023
Someone should ask how CBC got it wrong, too.
Hey, Jeff. https://t.co/qOPoargkIW pic.twitter.com/t0tDmGiI2w
— Thunder Bay Ed (@ThunderBayEd) September 24, 2023
No resignation. Not interested
— Thomas Watson Jr. (@ThomasWatsonCD) September 24, 2023
We take that to mean he is not interested in an apology without a resignation.
I feel badly for the sacrifice my father made. Canada has been transformed into something other. pic.twitter.com/hknIn2YL0y
— Bluehart 🇬🇧🇧🇲🏴🇨🇦 (@Bluehart007) September 24, 2023
It's a step, one step in the right direction
— Edward (Ted) Campbell (@Edward_Campb_ll) September 24, 2023
The apology is worthless without the resignation.
— Dave Thy Human (@lawnboy37) September 24, 2023
But it happened...it's too far.
You don't forget.
This man was invited to a private reception with PM Trudeau.
— Melissa Lantsman (@MelissaLantsman) September 24, 2023
Do they really expect anyone to believe he wasn’t vetted?
Seems implausible.
The Liberal government is either lying or throwing Anthony Rota under the bus or likely both. #cdnpoli
Add this to the list of… https://t.co/RcfqXhllue
The cut off line: 'Add this to the list of apologies the PM owes Parliament.'
Ms. Lantsman identifies herself as a Member of Parliament.
There is absolutely no world in which this is true. You mean to tell me that during a massive event with the president of a country at war that the speaker didn’t inform the PMO and that the notoriously control freak PMO didn’t vet him?
— Kristin Raworth (@KristinRaworth) September 24, 2023
Come on https://t.co/hLl2tNv4ck
The whole “fighting AGAINST Russia” wasn’t a whole red flag for you? Did you skip high school world history class?
— Courtney (@crystalandqueue) September 24, 2023
That’s what we said!
Not much of a statement. Better call your PR recovery machine for this one cause it's gonna be a bumpy ride. pic.twitter.com/CTMflKaxOS
— Russell host of the Canadian Conservative Podcast (@TheCanadianCon) September 24, 2023
You and the Pm must resign
— 💯JT.💯 (@JimmyT2022) September 24, 2023
And there always has to be one person who is that guy:
Honest question that I will probably get hate for. What intentions do you have to now protect this old man from the backlash that is happening?
— Anti Cookie Monster (@AntiCo0kies) September 24, 2023
Yes I know I'm horrible for even caring about this. But seeing as Canadians are on the edge of violence on this matter it would be…
The cut off text reads:
Yes I know I'm horrible for even caring about this. But seeing as Canadians are on the edge of violence on this matter it would be smart to figure that out before this man's family files a lawsuit for ousting them and putting them in danger.
We honestly doubt that anyone is going to seek out and harm him, anyway. But he should be protected by the ordinary process of law enforcement. When a person seeks to harm another, whether it is because they are hoping to steal his wallet, or because the person literally fought in a Nazi unit in World War II, the answer is that the police should protect that person, regardless. This is true even if we discover he is personally a war criminal and as of this writing we haven't seen any evidence of that. If he should be brought to justice for any reason, it should be done through a court of law, not by vigilante justice.
You don’t think that the guy could have refused to come to parliament to avoid potential backlash? He willingly accepted invitation thinking he’ll get praised for his “heroic” actions (meaning he still has no regrets), he got the praise but the vigilant public didn’t buy it.
— Alx (@www8z8t2m5) September 24, 2023
Hilariously evasive apology with no reference to the wrong being apologized for (introducing a Ukrainian veteran of the Waffen-SS to the Canadian parliament, where he received a standing ovation as a heroic fighter for Ukrainian independence in WWII) https://t.co/OLOmbeYQOx pic.twitter.com/QE91rFRUFQ
— Wesley Yang (@wesyang) September 24, 2023
Another self-identified Member of (Canada’s) Parliament had this to say:
My comment on this: https://t.co/cCc5KK6nI7 pic.twitter.com/OTErPce7ok
— Ya'ara Saks יערה זקס (@YaaraSaks) September 24, 2023
I think this episode is a good example of how while genuine neo-nazi attitudes are very rare in Ukraine itself, Ukrainian diaspora groups are no stranger to the trend of lionizing unsavoury actors by diasporas. https://t.co/NpP7pmP7br
— ArchyPunished ✝️🇹🇷 (@ArchysLife) September 24, 2023
Anthony Rota is such a coward he didn't even tweet it from his own account but rather only tweeted it from his HoC account
— Yanky (@Yanky_Pollak) September 24, 2023
Why don't you use your own account to apologize as well @AnthonyRota? https://t.co/wPm0OOHHTO. https://t.co/nrXGuYfH3H
It has become somewhat of a running joke in Canadian politics that no one resigns for anything.
— Hannah Hodson (@HannahHodson28) September 24, 2023
If inviting and celebrating a literal Nazi in the House of Commons does not result in at least one resignation we are truly a ridiculous country. https://t.co/pMDay0hHjV
Yeah, we think that ship has sailed. We appreciate good Canadians who are trying to fix their country, but like California, we think it might be too far gone to be saved.
But we would be happy to be proven wrong.
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