Why was a veteran of a Nazi division lauded in the Canadian House of Commons?
A good question, and one we don't have a good answer for.
This is a column I didn't think I'd ever have to write, but here we are. Many of you have written to my office over the weekend asking questions about what the hell happened.
So buckle up, here’s what we know so far about a veteran of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (a Nazi division) being recognized in the House of Commons.
Wait, what? For real?!
Yes, it's true. On Friday, during an address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's address to Canada's House of Commons, the Speaker recognized a veteran of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (a Nazi division).
How in the hell did this happen?
That's an excellent question and one we have yet to have a good answer to.
On Sunday, in a written statement, Anthony Rota, the Speaker of the House of Commons, apologized for having "recognized an individual in the gallery." The statement did not take explicit sole responsibility for inviting the individual.
President Zelenskyy's visit to Canada was highly formal, and as such, every detail would have been vetted by the protocol components under the Prime Minister's purview. Jenni Byrne, former deputy Chief of Staff to former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, made this point on Twitter late Sunday night.
However, current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office issued a statement last night claiming no prior knowledge of the individual. Later, Government House Leader Karina Gould took to Twitter/X to reemphasize this message and chastise Parliament Members for seeking answers for "politicizing the situation." It was then revealed that Ms. Gould had taken a picture with the individual in question, held his hand, and posted the photo to her Instagram account, which she subsequently deleted. At this point, she continued to claim that the government had no prior knowledge of the invitation of the individual.
There are also suggestions on social media that the individual in question was also invited to a reception on Friday at which Mr. Trudeau was present, as a relation of the individual in question reportedly posted a picture of him with the caption, "Dedo is waiting in the reception hall for Trudeau and Zelensky (sic)." Questions have been raised about how the individual could have made it onto a reception guest list that the Prime Minister would have attended without his office having prior knowledge.
The PMO is claiming they didn't know??!
Yes.
To his credit, Mr. Trudeau has an extensive track record of inviting individuals with questionable pasts to very formal events. The invitation of a man convicted of the attempted murder of an Indian cabinet minister along on a trip to India and entertaining a man in his office just days before he was arrested on a dozen serious criminal charges immediately came to mind.
So the situation at hand is this. Either Mr. Trudeau's office had prior awareness of the individual who was recognized on Friday, or they haven't learned from multiple previous screw-ups, and their shockingly judgment-free and /or non-existent vetting process put the Ukrainian President and the reputation of Canada at extreme risk.
This is really, really bad.
Yes, it is. Inviting someone who reportedly fought for Hitler's forces to be recognized in the Parliament of a G7 country would be bad at the best of times, but there are other extenuating circumstances:
This incident happened on the eve of one of the holiest days in Judaism, Yom Kippur. Multiple Canadian Jewish associations have (rightly) demanded explanations and apologies.
In inexplicably allowing the Ukrainian President to be exposed to this situation, Canada's government gave the Russians a talking point.
Canada looks like it doesn't have its shit together with the international community at a time when Canada needs the backing of its allies more than ever before. In one high-profile example, Poland's Ambassador to Canada has demanded an apology for the incident.
The Liberals, for years, have insinuated that some Canadians are Nazi sympathizers, but then allowed someone who reportedly actually, literally, fought for the forces of the actual, literal Hitler into the House of Commons and be recognized.
Dozens of high-profile Canadians, including ranking members of Canada's military, were also in attendance and exposed to this situation.
Why did other MPs applaud?
For my part, I wasn't there, so I didn't applaud. I wasn't notified about President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's address to Parliament by the Liberal government until later last week and, as such, was unable to attend the event due to previously scheduled commitments in my riding.
However, I must strongly emphasize that it's reasonable for the rest of my colleagues to assume that the Speaker wouldn't recognize someone who reportedly fought for Nazi forces on the House of Commons floor. Typically, the benefit of the doubt would be extended as, again, it's reasonable to expect that THE GOVERNMENT WOULDN'T BRING AN SS VETERAN TO BE RECOGNIZED.
So what happens now?
Another good question.
As I see it, the buck stops with the Prime Minister on this one. Per above, he's had things like this happen too many times before, with this incident now having global implications and causing reputational brand damage for our country. This situation is an absolute disaster, and the person who should face the consequences for this one, among potential others, is Mr. Trudeau.
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre first expressed this sentiment on Sunday night in a statement posted to Twitter/X.
The House of Commons is about to sit, and I'm sure more will come today. Stay tuned…..