Greg Fergus was elected as the new Speaker of the Parliament in the vote held after the Canadian Parliament Speaker Anthony Rota resigned following the Nazi scandal in the parliament. Fergus was recorded as Canada’s first black Speaker of Parliament.
In his statement, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that Fergus was the first black Canadian as Speaker of Parliament and said, “It should be inspiring for all Canadians, especially the younger generations who want to get involved in politics.”
WHAT HAPPENED?
On September 22, Rota introduced 98-year-old Ukrainian Yaroslav Hunka, who fought in the Nazi unit during the Second World War, as a “hero” in the Canadian parliament, and resigned after the reactions. Hunka attended the Canadian parliament session as a special guest due to the visit of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy, and was applauded by the MPs after Rota introduced himself as a “hero”.
In his statement, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the incident as “extremely shameful for the Canadian parliament and therefore for all Canadians.”
Following the parliamentary session, it was revealed that Hunka was a member of the military unit known as the Waffen-SS “Galicia” Division or the SS 14th Waffen Division, a volunteer unit under the command of the Nazis.