A growing chorus of opposition lawmakers calls for the resignation of Canada’s House speaker after a Nazi fighter was honored last week during the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Parliament, while conservatives are also attacking Justin Trudeau over the “massive diplomatic embarrassment and shame.” 

Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre blamed Trudeau and the Liberal government for not properly vetting Yaroslav Hunka, a Nazi soldier during World War II. 

The Conservative leader said the prime minister was responsible. Will he take responsibility for the latest embarrassment he caused?”

Speaker Anthony Rota drew attention to Zelenskyy, 98, after he delivered an address in the House of Commons Friday. He is Jewish and lost relatives in the Holocaust. Hunka was introduced as a war hero who served in the 1st Ukrainian Division by Rota. 

In addition to being known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division, or the SS 14th Waffen Division, the 1st Ukrainian Division served as a voluntary unit under Nazi control.

As a result of Rota’s written apology Sunday and his repeated apology in the House on Monday, he did not resign immediately.

Rota apologized, saying he was the only one responsible for inviting and recognizing Hunka. 

The man apologized deeply for offending many with his gesture and remarks.

There was no one – not even you fellow lawmakers, nor anyone from the Ukrainian delegation – who knew my intentions or my remarks before they were delivered.”

First publicly revealing that the Waffen-SS Galicia Division murdered innocent civilians with a level of brutality and malice that is unimaginable, the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies issued a statement Sunday.