As the Liberals deal with the fallout over Anthony Rota’s resignation as House Speaker, tensions are boiling over its attempt to strike Yaroslav Hunka’s recognition from the official record.
Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian-Canadian who fought in a Nazi unit during the Second World War, was recognized by Rota as a “hero” during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Canada Sept. 22.
Rota announced his resignation as Speaker on Tuesday, and will no longer be in the position as of Wednesday evening.
Still, the issue is dogging the government. Its idea of striking the moment from the official record was the subject of tense debate Tuesday.
Here is what you need to know.
How did the idea come about?
The idea to strike Hunka’s recognition from the official record of the House of Commons was proposed by Government House Leader Karina Gould on Monday.
Rota described Hunka last Friday as a veteran who fought for “Ukrainian independence against the Russians.”
“He is a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service,” Rota said. His recognition resulted in two standing ovations from MPs, Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian delegation.
After Hunka’s past emerged, Rota apologized in the House of Commons on Monday, saying he had no knowledge of his past and that he regretted recognizing him.
After his remarks, Gould, who is of Jewish heritage, said she appreciated Rota taking responsibility but given the “deeply embarrassing situation,” more had to be done.
“For all of us as parliamentarians on all sides, it is very important that we collectively work together to strike this recognition from the record. I will work with my colleagues to do that,” she said.
She then moved a motion Monday afternoon seeking unanimous consent to have Hunka’s recognition struck. It was denied.
What does it mean to strike something from official record?
To strike something from the official record would mean to remove it from Hansard, the official name of the records in the House of Commons, said Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs.
Hansard is publicly accessible, and anyone can go through it to see what was said in the House on any given day.
“It would be like it didn’t happen. One could look at that as the ultimate punishment … being removed from the House of Commons in every way that it could be removed,” he said.
“It could be looked at in another way as somebody trying to eliminate something that was shameful from their own record, and the government trying to hide the fact that this had happened.”
Hansard is the final and formal transcript of anything said in Parliament, and is crafted from the raw, unedited notes made by House of Commons staff transcribing the goings-on.
Those raw notes are called the “blues,” can while they are sometimes edited by MPs or their staff if a transcript didn’t accurately catch what someone said or read out, the blues are unofficial transcripts, while Hansard is the official record.
Striking anything from Hansard is uncommon, said Lori Turnbull, a professor with the faculty of management at Dalhousie University.
“People like me who study political science rely on the Hansard as an official record of what has transpired in the House. It’s supposed to be a complete record,” she said.
“A Speaker resigned over it. … The idea that Hansard would not properly account for the circumstances that led to that would be deeply troubling for anybody who cares about the history of Parliament. We need to have a record of this. It happened, it’s awful, but it did.”
Gould’s motion drew immediate opposition.
“The politics of this have been very heated and I think also very unfortunate,” said Peggy Nash, a former NDP MP and now a senior advisor at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Why was there opposition to it?
After Gould’s motion failed Monday, Conservative MP Marty Morantz said deleting the text would only have one purpose: to forget what happened and wash the record clean.
“It goes without saying those that don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” Morantz said, borrowing a quote from writer and philosopher George Santayana, who is believed to have said it first.
The issue spilled into question period Tuesday during a tense moment between Gould and Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman, who is also Jewish.
Conservatives have taken aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his office, saying they bear responsibility for what happened. Gould has said the government had “no knowledge” of Hunka’s visit, and that it was Rota’s idea alone – something he has said as well.
Lantsman was demanding the government take responsibility for Hunka’s presence when she singled out Gould’s motion.
“She tried to strike it from the historical record of this House as if it never happened. A descendant of Holocaust survivors distorting the Holocaust. You should be ashamed of yourself,” she said.
In her response, Gould reiterated the government had no prior knowledge of Hunka’s presence and that Rota took full responsibility for it.
Michael Mostyn, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada, told Global News on Tuesday that the request to strike the recognition from Hansard was wrong.
“I can understand where the government is coming from in making that request, but it was wrong. It was wrong to do so because it did happen,” he said.
“The world knows it happened. The prime minister has spoken about his fear that this will be used as Russian disinformation. It would be even worse if we attempted to expunge this from the record because it did happen.”
After question period, Gould said she did not regret making the motion.
“I feel very strongly that had any member of Parliament known on Friday who they were asking to stand and applaud and recognize, I don’t think a single parliamentarian would have stood and applauded,” she said.
“It’s certainly something that has shamed and embarrassed all of us, and it’s something that now the Russians are using for their propaganda campaign. So, I think it’s worth debating. The House obviously did not move it forward, but that’s okay. That’s what politics and democracy is about.”
Later on Tuesday, MPs adopted a motion by Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet to “condemn the invitation extended to a former Waffen-SS soldier on Friday, September 22, 2023, and withdraw any tribute paid to him.”
Trudeau issues apology over Hunka recognition
Trudeau had been under pressure to publicly apologize for Hunka’s recognition. He did so on Wednesday.
“On behalf of all of us in this House, I would like to present unreserved apologies for what took place on Friday, and to President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian delegation for the position they were put in,” he said in the House of Commons.
“For all of us who were present to have unknowingly recognized this individual was a terrible mistake, and a violation of the memory of those who suffered grievously at the hands of the Nazi regime.”
— with files from Global News’ David Baxter and The Canadian Press
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