New guidelines for recognizing certain guests in the House of Commons are being considered by Speaker Greg Fergus after MPs unknowingly applauded a man who had fought for a Nazi unit. Draft guidelines for the recognition of guests during a joint address have been distributed to all House leaders and other officers of Parliament, and feedback will be considered before the guidelines are shared with members.
Details of the draft guidelines were not disclosed, and Mathieu Gravel, a spokesperson for Fergus, said that he cannot provide more information at this time. Yaroslav Hunka, who fought for the Waffen−SS Galicia Division, was received in the House of Commons in September to hear a speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Liberal MP Anthony Rota, who invited Hunka and introduced him as a hero, resigned as Speaker over the decision, and Fergus was elected to succeed him in October.
In his apology, Rota took full responsibility for the invitation and stated that neither the Prime Minister’s Office nor the Ukrainian delegation had been aware of it. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also apologized on behalf of Parliament, as senior Canadian politicians called the episode an international embarrassment. Russia used the controversy to advance propaganda seeking to legitimize its full−scale invasion of Ukraine. Many MPs expressed their disgust in participating in the House’s ovation for Hunka, while Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre pushed for hearings to determine how the invitation happened.
The Speaker has independence from the government when it comes to invitations, and this independence extends to the administration of the House. The Speaker’s independence is enshrined in a memorandum of understanding brought in by the Harper government following the 2014 attack by a gunman who stormed Parliament Hill. The calamity prompted the creation of the Parliamentary Protective Service, which is responsible for the physical security of the parliamentary precinct. However, the protective service will vet only for security threats, not political sensitivities. A former spokesperson for Rota had stated that the vetting process for guests who had attended Zelenskyy’s address in Parliament was “for physical security threats, not reputational threats.”