Carson Jerema
National Post, Sept. 26, 2023
“… the Liberals, who ridiculously tried to have the honouring of the Nazi soldier stricken from Parliament’s records, can’t seem to understand why anyone cares about this, especially when, in their minds, everyone knows who the real Nazis are — the Conservatives.”
Canada is being mocked around the world after a man who fought for the Nazis was celebrated in Parliament, presumably by mistake. But on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s chief concern was to ensure everyone that it wasn’t his fault. “The Speaker has acknowledged his mistake and apologized,” he said, repeating the talking point given to every Liberal with a pulse.
And now that Speaker of The House Anthony Rota has resigned, Trudeau can go on pretending like the whole thing had nothing to do with him.
Sure, it was humiliating for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was in The House of Commons clapping along with everyone else for the former Nazi soldier, an image that aids Russia in its lie that Ukraine is a fascist state. And it was deeply embarrassing to Jewish Canadians and Ukrainian Canadians in particular, and it is causing alarm in global capitals. However, what’s most important for Trudeau is that everyone understands that Rota, not the prime minister, was to blame.
Trudeau simply can’t pull himself away from narrow partisan concerns for a single moment and take responsibility for the fact that someone who fought for the murderous Waffen-SS unit was honoured in Canada. He was honoured not just during Zelenskyy’s visit, but, because he is Ukrainian, was chosen specifically for the visit. Even if Rota is at fault, Trudeau is the leader of the government. The technicality that the man, Yaroslav Hunka, was the guest of the Speaker, may work for Liberals who spend all their time in a positive feedback loop on social media, but it is a pointless distinction for everyone else.
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