The warm glow of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to Parliament has given way to a bitter aftertaste as it turns out that the Ukrainian veteran that Speaker Anthony Rota introduced in his concluding remarks turned out not to have been either a Ukrainian-Canadian fighter or a Ukrainian partisan (as Rota’s introduction could fuzzily be construed as) but rather, was a volunteer for a Nazi-controlled unit, and it has turned into an absolute shitstorm of groups, particularly Jewish groups, being rightfully outraged, and partisan actors trying to use this to score points.
On September 22, in the House of Commons, I recognized an individual in the gallery. I regret my decision to do so, and accept full responsibility for my actions. Read my statement here: https://t.co/Hd9chtHFNJ
— Speaker of the HoC (@HoCSpeaker) September 24, 2023
Rota released a statement of absolute, unequivocal apology, and I suspect that he will make a statement in the House of Commons first thing today, but it nevertheless casts a pall over him and his judgment, particularly because he has brought Parliament as a whole, and the government, into disrepute, and has quite possibly created an international incident over this where it feeds the interests of Russian propagandists who deride Zelenskyy and Ukraine as a whole as being some kind of Nazi stronghold. And I wish that I could say that this was atypical, but Rota has spent his time as Speaker largely being asleep at the wheel, and being a genial idiot who is more concerned with being everyone’s friend than he is in doing his job, which is tremendously unfortunately. And his trying to be everyone’s friend and being asleep at the wheel has brought us to this point here, and I have a hard time seeing how he has any choice in the matter here other than to announce his resignation on Monday morning, because his job is to protect Parliament, and he has done the opposite. There should be no walking back from this, no matter how well-intentioned he was, or how inadvertent the mistake.
PMO on this: “The independent Speaker of the House has apologized and accepted full responsibility for issuing the invitation and for the recognition in Parliament. This was the right thing to do.”
PMO/Ukraine delegation had no advance notice, Speaker had own allotment of seats. https://t.co/ZtPf1BgKA9
— Rachel Aiello (@rachaiello) September 24, 2023
Of course, the politics at play here have already spun all the way out of control, with Pierre Poilievre claiming that Trudeau met with said individual, while everyone else says that he hasn’t. People are insisting that Trudeau and the PMO should have known that this individual was invited, which I can’t see as possibly being the case if the Speaker, who is independent and does not run everything past PMO or PCO, had his own allotment of guest seats that he filled. I think that this will nevertheless obligate Trudeau to issue some kind of public apology, possibly in the Chamber, either before or after QP (assuming we have one if the Speaker resigns and they don’t have to suspend until a new permanent Speaker is chosen), and to offer a public assurance to Zelenskyy that he was unaware and that this situation is dealt with by Rota’s resignation. Unfortunately, this is going to play into so many propagandists’ narratives, and everyone is damaged by this.
The Speaker has made it clear that he was responsible for inviting this individual to the House. The government played no role. It did not know he would be there. The PM did not meet him. I am deeply troubled this happened. I urge MPs to avoid politicizing this incident. https://t.co/G4lYoqkxrr
— Karina Gould (@karinagould) September 24, 2023
This man had no place in the public gallery, much less being acknowledged by the Speaker. All those from all parties who inadvertently stood up and recognized him, Canada’s Jewish community & all Canadians needed this apology. 1/2 https://t.co/Uz2rbbcY9w
— Anthony Housefather (@AHousefather) September 24, 2023
Now that the Speaker’s apology has been issued I want to make sure we do not allow this mistake to divide Jewish Canadians, Ukrainian Canadians and all Canadians who stand together supporting Ukraine against the aggression of the Russian government.
— Anthony Housefather (@AHousefather) September 24, 2023
The Conservative leader has repeatedly been photographed with fascists and "we can't vet everyone" is the usual excuse.
I don't care which standard we pick but seems to me we should pick one and stick to it. https://t.co/4LutTfdjk1
— Alex Usher (@AlexUsherHESA) September 24, 2023
Ukraine Dispatch:
Russian airstrikes killed two and wounded eight in the southern city of Kherson on Sunday, and early this morning, they launched a drone and missile attack against Odessa. New Western weapons are exacting a significant toll on Russian forces in the fighting near Bakhmut. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered two Polish volunteers awards on his return to Ukraine, as the two countries are in a major dispute over grain shipments. Here’s a look at an airport in Poland which serves not only as an arrival point for Ukrainians badly injured and in need of care, both civilian and military, as well as a transfer point for military equipment.
On the night of September 24, saboteurs blew up equipment on the territory of military camps in Moscow and Kaluga Oblasts of Russia.
Reported the Defence Intelligence of #Ukraine.
— UkraineWorld (@ukraine_world) September 24, 2023
The exhumation of bodies in Izyum has ended:
194 men
215 women
22 military
5 children
11 fragments
Missing limbs, genitals, head and chest injuries, rib fractures and signs of strangulation.
And it's not only about Putin – it's about ruzzism!— Ukraine Front Line (@EuromaidanPR) September 24, 2023
Good reads:
- Here is more about Justin Trudeau’s event with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Toronto on Friday night.
- Sikh groups are calling on all parties to maintain a “united front” with India in dealing with the allegations around the Nijjar murder.
- Senior Sources™ say that the government did share evidence with the Indian government of the involvement in the Nijjar murder weeks ago.
- There was an outage from payment processor Moneris over the weekend, but they’re offering few details as to what caused it.
- While the NDP and Bloc have pulled their parties’ ads from Facebook and Instagram, the Liberals and Conservatives continue to as they see no alternative.
- Here is a recap of Doug Ford’s very bad summer.
- Colby Cosh makes the point of how Big Pharma’s effective cure for Hepatitis C creates positive externalities for our healthcare system, and should be recognised.
Odds and ends:
My Loonie Politics Quick Take offers a reminder that the causes of food price inflation are complex, and that we should beware parties offering simple solutions.
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The irony here is that if Hunka had caught Zelenski’s Russian speaking Jewish grandparents, he would have murdered them. That was , after all, what he was paid to do.