MPs expected to dig deeper on how war vet who fought with Nazis ended up in the House

OTTAWA — The House of Commons will resume sitting this morning for the first time since Speaker Anthony Rota officially stepped down from his post.

Rota resigned at the end of business Wednesday after apologizing for inviting a man to Parliament whose military service was linked to the Nazis.+

All MPs applauded Yaroslav Hunka on Sept. 22 before they understood he had fought with a Ukrainian military unit set up by Nazi Germany to fight the Soviet Union.

An interim speaker is in place now until Tuesday when a new speaker will be elected by MPs.

The fallout from the incident continues, with MPs expected to call for various House committees to investigate how it could have happened.

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather says Parliament needs to fix the procedures so something like this never happens again.

“It’s totally unacceptable that someone with that kind of past was recognized in the chamber,” Housefather said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2023.