The Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons, Anthony Rota, has announced his resignation following the scandal caused by the tribute paid to a Ukrainian veteran who fought with the Nazis during the Second World War, during the visit of President Volodymyr Zelensky last Friday. September 22.
“With a heavy heart, I rise to inform members of my resignation as Speaker of the House of Commons,” Rota declared before Parliament, expressing his “deep regret for [his] mistake.”
“That public ovation has caused pain to people and communities, including the Jewish community in Canada and around the world… I fully accept responsibility for my actions,” Rota said, adding that his resignation would take effect this Wednesday. Until then, a deputy spokesperson will fill the role.
During the Ukrainian president’s visit in Ottawa on Friday, Rota applauded Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian veteran, and introduced him as a “Ukrainian hero.”
But according to the Canadian Jewish advocacy group Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC), Hunka served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, a Nazi military unit whose crimes against humanity during the Holocaust are well documented.
First elected in 2004 under the Liberal banner (Justin Trudeau’s party), Anthony Rota, 62, has been re-elected five times. He was president of the House since 2019.