New Speaker to be chosen next Tuesday, Bloc Québécois MP Louis Plamondon to as interim Speaker in meantime
House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota leaves Parliament Hill after announcing his resignation as Speaker of the House of Commons in Ottawa on Tuesday. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
Liberal MP Anthony Rota is stepping down as House of Commons Speaker after inviting a former Ukrainian soldier who fought in a Nazi division to Parliament — a dramatic turn of events that will be welcomed by MPs on all sides who said the embarrassing incident was unforgivable.
Rota’s resignation will take effect at the end of the sitting day on Wednesday.
“I have acted as your humble servant, carrying out the important responsibilities of this position to the very best of my abilities. The work of this House is above any of us. Therefore, I must step down as your Speaker,” Rota said ahead of Tuesday’s question period.
“I reiterate my profound regret for my error in recognizing an individual in the House.”
Anthony Rota resigns as Speaker after calls to quit
Anthony Rota is resigning as Speaker of the House of Commons after facing calls to quit from all sides over his decision to invite a man who served in a Nazi unit to Parliament during a historic visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. ‘The work of this House is above any of us,’ Rota said as he announced he was leaving the sought-after position.
Rota said the “public recognition” he gave to a former Nazi soldier “caused pain to individuals and communities,” including Jewish people, Poles and “other survivors of Nazi atrocities.”
Rota’s decision to step aside means MPs will need to pick another presiding officer soon so the Commons can continue to function.
On Friday, Rota invited Ukrainian veteran Yaroslav Hunka, a constituent of his from North Bay, Ont., to sit in the parliamentary gallery during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to Parliament.
Over the weekend, it emerged that Hunka was part of the First Ukrainian Division, also known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division or the SS 14th Waffen Division — a voluntary unit under the command of the Nazis.
Poland takes steps toward extradition
The shockwaves from the 98-year-old’s appearance in Parliament are still being felt.
Poland’s education minister has said he wants Hunka be extradited to face criminal penalties for his role in the Galician division, a unit that committed atrocities against Poles in the Second World War. Przemysław Czarnek said he has “taken steps” to get Hunka to Poland.
The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre (FSWC), a Jewish rights group, said Rota’s action “compromised all 338 MPs” and “handed a propaganda victory to Russia.”
The FSWC is also calling on the Commons’ Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) to hold public hearings, investigate what took place and examine “vetting process failures.”
B’nai Brith, another Jewish group, said the government must make the Duchesne Commission‘s 1980s-era report public in its entirety so the country can learn the true extent of Ukrainian Nazi activities in post-Second World War Canada.
Yaroslav Hunka, right, waits for the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the House of Commons on Friday. Several Jewish advocacy organizations condemned members of Parliament over the weekend for giving a standing ovation to Hunka, who fought for a Nazi unit during the Second World War. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press)
Reports suggest as many as 2,000 Ukrainian members of Adolf Hitler’s Waffen-SS were admitted to Canada after the war — after some British prodding. The commission said the number is likely lower than that.
But Jewish groups have long been critical of how these collaborators have been allowed to live in peace in Canada after voluntarily serving in Hitler’s war machine.
Historians have documented how soldiers like Hunka were trained at SS facilities in Germany, swore an oath to Hitler and received an education in Nazi doctrine.
“We cannot move forward as a country from Friday’s humiliating debacle without the government committing to finally opening its wartime records,” said Michael Mostyn, B’nai Brith Canada’s CEO.
Liberal House leader reacts to Speaker’s resignation
Karina Gould, whose family are Jewish Holocaust survivors, says that Speaker Anthony Rota’s decision to invite a Ukrainian who fought with the Nazis to Parliament was “beyond her wildest imagination.”
Parliament ‘tarnished,’ NDP MP says
Government House Leader Karina Gould, who is of Jewish descent, said she’s horrified she celebrated Hunka. The Ontario MP also posed for a picture with the man after Friday’s festivities.
“This is very emotional for me,” Gould said, holding back tears as she spoke to reporters after Rota’s departure.
“My family are Jewish Holocaust survivors. I would have never in a million years stood and applauded someone who aided the Nazis.”
She said Rota should have never invited “someone like this.”
She said the outgoing Speaker was also “very misleading” when he encouraged parliamentarians to stand and applaud a Nazi collaborator.
Rota leaves the speaker’s entrance of West Block after announcing his resignation Tuesday. Bloc Québécois MP Louis Plamondon will take on the role on an interim basis until a new speaker is elected next Tuesday. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)
NDP MP Peter Julian, the party’s House leader, also welcomed Rota’s decision to leave.
It was Julian who first called for the northern Ontario MP to step away from the Speaker role.
“It’s not a happy day for us. It’s a sad day, of course. But the reality is, he made the right decision. The Parliament has been tarnished and so many people have been hurt by what happened last Friday,” Julian said. “Canada’s parliamentary reputation has taken a real hit.
“Imagine the Jewish community sitting down to Yom Kippur and having somebody that is affiliated with the SS and the horrific murders taking place in Eastern Europe being honoured in the House of Commons,” Julian added, referring to the Jewish high holiday.
How MPs ended up honouring veteran of Nazi unit
How did a Ukrainian veteran who fought for a Nazi unit during the Second World War end up being honoured inside the House of Commons? CBC’s John Paul Tasker breaks down the damage caused by Speaker Anthony Rota’s invitation and whether it could lead to his resignation.
Trudeau absent during question period
For a second day in a row, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was absent from question period Tuesday as the Opposition peppered the government with questions about the Rota mishap.
“Where is the prime minister? Why is he hiding?” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said.
“Our nation’s reputation is in tatters. Will he stand up and apologize for this mess he helped create?” he added, trying to link Rota’s invitation to the Prime Minister’s Office.
“Has there ever been a greater diplomatic embarrassment in the history of our country? I mean it literally. In coffee shops, in gyms and businesses and boardrooms around the world, people are reading about this massive and shameful disgrace that unfolded under the watch of a Liberal Speaker and a Liberal prime minister.
“And yet he can’t even show up for work. Where is he? Why is he hiding under a rock today?”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walks to make a statement to reporters after Rota, not shown, accepted responsibility for honouring a man who fought with a Nazi unit during a recent Parliamentary address from the Ukrainian president. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
While Trudeau was in Ottawa early Tuesday for a cabinet meeting, he later left for Toronto to participate in a “fireside chat” with an automotive parts group.
Rota initially resisted calls to resign. But he lost the support of some key Liberal cabinet ministers — a sign that his position had become increasingly tenuous.
It wasn’t just the invitation — Rota also recognized Hunka as a “Canadian hero” in the House of Commons and prompted a standing ovation.
It wasn’t enough for Rota to apologize, some parliamentarians said.
Situation ‘completely unacceptable,’ Joly says
“What happened on Friday is completely unacceptable. It was an embarrassment to the House and Canadians,” Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly told reporters Tuesday.
Joly also said she’s spoken to her Ukrainian counterpart about the incident, which has had global repercussions.
Composite illustration featuring Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, left, and House Leader Karina Gould. (Hanna Johre/NTB/Reuters, Justin Tang/The Canadian Press )
Trudeau stopped short of saying Rota should resign but made it clear where he stands.
“This was deeply embarrassing for the House and for Canada,” Trudeau said.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Rota had to step down to protect Parliament’s reputation, something that has been on shaky ground since Hunka’s past came to light.
“This is the Parliament of Canada, which will outlast all of us. I’m really thinking about the institution, the office, and doing what is in the best interest of preserving the integrity of the institution,” Champagne said.
Health Minister Mark Holland, who recently served as government House leader and worked closely with the Speaker in that role, said Rota is “a profoundly good man” and the last few days have been “incredibly difficult” for him and those who know him well.
“I know he puts Parliament first,” Holland said.
While the NDP and Bloc Québécois said Monday that Rota needed to go, Poilievre and Conservative MPs spent the day blaming Trudeau for Hunka’s presence in Parliament.
A spokesperson for Rota has said the Speaker’s guest list was not shared with the Prime Minister’s Office or any of the other parties.
Rota’s picks to be in the gallery were sent to the House of Commons protocol office and the confirmed list of attendees was then shared with corporate security, which is partly responsible for security in the parliamentary precinct, including the Commons chamber in West Block.
New speaker to be elected next week
Late Tuesday, the House unanimously agreed to hold an election for a new Speaker next Tuesday.
Bloc Québécois MP Louis Plamondon will act as interim Speaker in the meantime.
Plamondon is what’s known as the “Dean of the House” — the MP with the longest unbroken sitting record who isn’t a minister or party leader.
One of the Dean’s roles is to oversee the election of the Speaker. Plamondon — who was first elected in 1984 — will do so for the sixth time when a new Speaker is chosen next week.
Braxton Whitehead said Friday he has verbally committed to Arizona State, making him the first member of a Canadian Hockey League team to attempt to play the sport at the Division I U.S. college level since a lawsuit was filed challenging the NCAA’s longstanding ban on players it deems to be professionals.
Whitehead posted on social media he plans to play for the Sun Devils beginning in the 2025-26 season.
An Arizona State spokesperson said the school could not comment on verbal commitments, citing NCAA rules. A message left with the CHL was not immediately returned.
A class-action lawsuit filed Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, could change the landscape for players from the CHL’s Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. NCAA bylaws consider them professional leagues and bar players from there from the college ranks.
Online court records show the NCAA has not made any response to the lawsuit since it was filed.
“We’re pleased that Arizona State has made this decision, and we’re hopeful that our case will result in many other Division I programs following suit and the NCAA eliminating its ban on CHL players,” Stephen Lagos, one of the lawyers who launched the lawsuit, told The Associated Press in an email.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Riley Masterson, of Fort Erie, Ontario, who lost his college eligibility two years ago when, at 16, he appeared in two exhibition games for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. And it lists 10 Division 1 hockey programs, which were selected to show they follow the NCAA’s bylaws in barring current or former CHL players.
CHL players receive a stipend of no more than $600 per month for living expenses, which is not considered as income for tax purposes. College players receive scholarships and now can earn money through endorsements and other use of their name, image and likeness (NIL).
The implications of the lawsuit could be far-reaching. If successful, the case could increase competition for college-age talent between North America’s two top producers of NHL draft-eligible players.
“I think that everyone involved in our coaches association is aware of some of the transformational changes that are occurring in collegiate athletics,” Forrest Karr, executive director of American Hockey Coaches Association and Minnesota-Duluth athletic director said last month. “And we are trying to be proactive and trying to learn what we can about those changes.
Karr was not immediately available for comment on Friday.
Earlier this year, Karr established two committees — one each overseeing men’s and women’s hockey — to respond to various questions on eligibility submitted to the group by the NCAA. The men’s committee was scheduled to go over its responses two weeks ago.
Former Minnesota coach and Central Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner Don Lucia said at the time that the lawsuit provides the opportunity for stakeholders to look at the situation.
“I don’t know if it would be necessarily settled through the courts or changes at the NCAA level, but I think the time is certainly fast approaching where some decisions will be made in the near future of what the eligibility will look like for a player that plays in the CHL and NCAA,” Lucia said.
Whitehead, a 20-year-old forward from Alaska who has developed into a point-a-game player, said he plans to play again this season with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League.
“The WHL has given me an incredible opportunity to develop as a player, and I couldn’t be more excited,” Whitehead posted on Instagram.
His addition is the latest boon for Arizona State hockey, a program that has blossomed in the desert far from traditional places like Massachusetts, Minnesota and Michigan since entering Division I in 2015. It has already produced NHL talent, including Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord and Josh Doan, the son of longtime Coyotes captain Shane Doan, who now plays for Utah after that team moved from the Phoenix area to Salt Lake City.
A community legal clinic in Kingston, Ont., is denouncing the mayor’s calls to clear an encampment and close a supervised consumption site in the city following a series of alleged assaults that left two people dead and one seriously injured.
Kingston police said they were called to an encampment near a safe injection site on Thursday morning, where they allege a 47-year-old male suspect wielded an edged or blunt weapon and attacked three people. Police said he was arrested after officers negotiated with him for several hours.
The suspect is now facing two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
In a social media post, Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson said he was “absolutely horrified” by the situation.
“We need to clear the encampment, close this safe injection site and the (Integrated Care Hub) until we can find a better way to support our most vulnerable residents,” he wrote.
The Kingston Community Legal Clinic called Paterson’s comments “premature and misguided” on Friday, arguing that such moves could lead to a rise in overdoses, fewer shelter beds and more homelessness.
In a phone interview, Paterson said the encampment was built around the Integrated Care Hub and safe injection site about three years ago. He said the encampment has created a “dangerous situation” in the area and has frequently been the site of fires, assaults and other public safety concerns.
“We have to find a way to be able to provide the services that people need, being empathetic and compassionate to those struggling with homelessness and mental health and addictions issues,” said Paterson, noting that the safe injection site and Integrated Care Hub are not operated by the city.
“But we cannot turn a blind eye to the very real public safety issues.”
When asked how encampment residents and people who use the services would be supported if the sites were closed, Paterson said the city would work with community partners to “find the best way forward” and introduce short-term and long-term changes.
Keeping the status quo “would be a terrible failure,” he argued.
John Done, executive director of the Kingston Community Legal Clinic, criticized the mayor’s comments and said many of the people residing in the encampment may be particularly vulnerable to overdoses and death. The safe injection site and Integrated Care Hub saves lives, he said.
Taking away those services, he said, would be “irresponsible.”
Done said the legal clinic represented several residents of the encampment when the City of Kingston made a court application last summer to clear the encampment. The court found such an injunction would be unconstitutional, he said.
Done added there’s “no reason” to attach blame while the investigation into Thursday’s attacks is ongoing. The two people who died have been identified as 38-year-old Taylor Wilkinson and 41-year-old John Hood.
“There isn’t going to be a quick, easy solution for the fact of homelessness, drug addictions in Kingston,” Done said. “So I would ask the mayor to do what he’s trained to do, which is to simply pause until we have more information.”
The concern surrounding the safe injection site in Kingston follows a recent shift in Ontario’s approach to the overdose crisis.
Last month, the province announced that it would close 10 supervised consumption sites because they’re too close to schools and daycares, and prohibit any new ones from opening as it moves to an abstinence-based treatment model.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
