Speaker of the House of Commons Anthony Rota rises in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Sept. 25, 2023. Mr. Rota called Yaroslav Hunka a Canadian and Ukrainian hero after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke in the House during an official visit to Canada.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Former Commons Speaker Anthony Rota is being urged to appear before a House of Commons committee to explain his decision to invite and honour Yaroslav Hunka, a Waffen-SS veteran, during an address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last September.
Conservative MPs presented a motion to the Commons procedure and House affairs committee Thursday urging Mr. Rota to appear, with his staff, after they said he declined a previous invitation to give evidence.
“We haven’t come to a clear understanding of how Mr. Hunka was invited and who should have ultimately done the reputational vetting portion,” Conservative MP Blaine Calkins said. He added that he does not believe the committee can come to an understanding about what happened without hearing from Mr. Rota, who Mr. Calkins described as “the person central to the invitation.”
Conservative MP Luc Berthold reinforced Mr. Calkins’s call, saying ”We will not be able to get a full picture and get the answers we need” if Mr. Rota does not appear before the committee.
On Sept. 22, 2023, Mr. Rota recognized and honoured Mr. Hunka after Mr. Zelensky spoke in the House during an official visit to Canada. Mr. Rota called Mr. Hunka a Canadian and Ukrainian hero and the then-98-year-old received two standing ovations from members of the House, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Shortly after, public outcry began as it was revealed that Mr. Hunka had been a soldier in the Waffen-SS, a Nazi-led unit during the Second World War.
Mr. Rota resigned from his position as Speaker four days later following calls from the public and MPs from all parties.
On Feb. 13, the committee heard that the background check conducted for Mr. Hunka did not investigate if he would pose a reputational risk, only if he would pose a physical risk to MPs.
During this meeting, the committee also heard that the list of invited guests to Mr. Zelensky’s speech was not shared with Mr. Trudeau. Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs questioned this claim because on Sept. 19 of last year, Mr. Trudeau had invited Mr. Hunka to a reception for Mr. Zelensky on Sept. 22.
During Thursday’s meeting, MPs heard from two members of the Parliamentary Protective Service, the security in charge of the parliamentary precinct, Mitch Monette and Matthew Ritchie. Mr. Monette explained that physical security is the PPS’s main mandate.
When asked by Conservative MP Eric Duncan about doing an online search regarding guests coming to Parliament, Mr. Monette said, “It’s not really in our mandate to do it.”
MPs also heard from Dominik Roszak, a member of the Canadian Polish Congress. Mr. Roszak spoke about the hurt experienced by the Polish community as a result of honouring Mr. Hunka in the House. Mr. Roszak urged the government to take steps toward understanding the historical context.
Mr. Rota did not respond to a request for comment.