The speaker of the lower house of the Canadian parliament announced his resignation

The Speaker of the Canadian Parliament, Anthony Rota, resigned amid a scandal involving the invitation of a 98-year-old veteran of the SS Galicia division.

About it reports “European truth”. In his short statement, without disclosing the reasons for the decision, Anthony Rota thanked parliamentarians for their trust in electing him as Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada in the previous and current convocations:

“It is with a heavy heart that I inform MPs of my resignation as Speaker of the House of Commons.”

Let us remind you that the Canadian speaker was called on to resign by colleagues and members of the government after he invited 98-year-old Yaroslav Gunka to parliament during Zelensky’s visit to Canada last week. Rota introduced him as a World War II veteran who fought against the Russians.

Journalists discovered that Gunka served in the 14th Waffen-SS Grenadier Division, a volunteer unit that consisted primarily of ethnic Ukrainians under Nazi command.

The SS Division “Galicia” was created by German troops from Ukrainians to fight against the Red Army in 1943. The Nuremberg trials and the so-called Deschenes Commission, created in Canada in the 1980s, did not confirm the involvement of division members in war crimes. Nevertheless, the division is accused of punitive Wehrmacht operations against Poles and Jews.

Gunka’s invitation caused outrage among Canadian and Polish Jewish organizations, which demanded an explanation. The speaker of the Canadian House of Commons apologized, but refused to resign.

The office of the Prime Minister of Canada noted in a conversation with local media that neither Prime Minister Justin Trudeau nor the Ukrainian delegation knew about the invitation of the former member of the SS Galicia division and the speaker’s action certainly condemns it.

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