Pierre Poilievre says Trudeau was responsible for honoring Nazi vet and 'must personally apologize'

Official Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre said Sunday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “must personally apologize” for Parliament honoring a former Nazi soldier because the prime minister “personally met with and honoured a veteran of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (a Nazi division).”

In a post on X, Conservative Party of Canada leader Poilievre, who stood alongside all MPs to give Yaroslav Hunka a standing ovation last Friday, said it was Trudeau who approved the salute to the SS vet.

On Sunday, House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota (L-Nipissing—Timiskaming), who introduced Hunka, declared that he and he alone was responsible for the former Nazi soldier being at the event.

"I wish to make clear that no one, including fellow parliamentarians and the Ukraine delegation, was aware of my intention or of my remarks before I delivered them. This initiative was entirely my own, the individual in question being from my riding and having been brought to my attention,” Rota said in a statement, adding that he wished to extend his “deepest apologies to Jewish communities in Canada.”

Poilievre disagreed, saying it was Trudeau and the Liberal caucus who “arranged for this Nazi veteran to be recognized on the floor of the House of Commons during the visit of the Ukrainian President.”

Poilievre called that “an appalling error in judgment on the part of Justin Trudeau, whose personal protocol office is responsible for arranging and vetting all guests and programming for state visits of this kind.”

The Conservative Party leader added that “[no] parliamentarians (other than Justin Trudeau) had the opportunity to vet this individual’s past before he was introduced and honoured on the floor of the House of Commons.”

“Without warning or context, it was impossible for any parliamentarian in the room (other than Mr. Trudeau) to know of this dark past. Mr. Trudeau must personally apologize and avoid passing the blame to others as he always does.”