Image: Canadian Press / File

By Mel Rothenburger

Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: How a standing O in Parliament has humiliated our entire country

Sep 27, 2023 | 5:56 AM

THE ROAD TO HELL is paved with good intentions. Nobody knows it better right now than Anthony Rota.

As House Speaker he presided over the welcome for Volodomyr Zelensky when the Ukrainian president spoke to a joint session of Parliament. He thought it would be a nice touch to introduce 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka, a resident of his constituency and a man who fought the Russian army for a Ukrainian division in the Second World War.

So, the entire Parliament stood and applauded him. Members of all parties applauded. Zelensky applauded. But if Rota had looked deeper, he would have discovered that Hunka’s division was under the command of the German Nazis.

So, as of the end of today, he will no longer hold the prestigious position of Speaker of the House, having resigned. He has done the right thing after having done the wrong thing.

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This terrible mistake has created a devastating international humiliation for Hunka’s adopted country, handed the Russian tyrant Putin a propaganda victory, and put egregious hurt on Jews around the world. (Let’s remember that Zelensky is, himself, a Jew.)

What about Justin Trudeau? It’s almost certain he didn’t know about Hunka’s background any more than Rota did. But he should have known; the buck stops with him.

Sadly, this comes as there are hints of a softening of determination by NATO partners to continue military support for Ukraine.

The U.S. is the key in this, and its record is poor. It’s a record of going into countries gang busters, promising to be there “as long as it takes,” then abandoning the people they were supposed to save. Vietnam. Iraq. Afghanistan. Ukraine is fighting its own war but without long-term and unflinching Western support it will die.

Canada should be helping keep the Western alliance strong in its support of Ukraine. This thing with Hunka has much diminished our ability to do that, maybe fatally.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.