To the Editor
I am disappointed and discouraged by the coverage of this matter but sadly not surprised! I find that the coverage by the news media has been superficial and misleading and that the various comments of the politicians are dishonest and self-serving. But I guess that has become the norm these days!
To begin, I am not involved in politics, nor am I connected to Mr Hunka in any way.
Mr Rota is our MP, and I know him, and I have voted for him. I respect Mr. Rota and believe that we have lost a good Speaker as a sacrifice to the hysterical social media reaction.
I know nothing of Mr Hunka’s background beyond what I have been able to learn from the coverage. I know little of the history that is involved in this controversy. I think what we have all learned from this mess is that history is complicated and certainly not black and white!
The media has made little effort to provide the historical background necessary to understand what we are talking about and we are left with a rather hysterical reaction from the politicians to blame everyone in sight for some sort of crime and to score points for their side. The media has picked up the misinformation and spread it!
Are there not any honest and decent politicians willing to stand up and acknowledge that there was no breach of security, no conspiracy, no great failure to vet this man, no Nazi implications, and no government involvement in this unfortunate situation.
What we think we know is that Mr Hunka was NOT a Nazi! He would not have been allowed to be as a Ukrainian!
He was a “ volunteer” whatever that means in a country ravaged by the Russians, taken over by the Germans, and with precious few choices for a young man of 18. It seems that he was fighting for a Ukrainian unit against the Russians when it was taken over by the Germans and renamed and still fighting the Russians.
We are told that some of this SS unit committed atrocities in Poland and the feelings of the Polish people must be respected.
However, would it not be helpful to know if Mr Hunka even served in Poland, or if he participated in any war crimes? After all, simply taking an oath under circumstances where the alternative might have been death or imprisonment should not be treated as a crime all these years later.
We do know that 2 Canadian inquiries were unable to ascertain that this unit participated in any war crimes, and stated that “merely belonging to the Galicia unit should not be a bar to entrance to Canada!”
So it appears that Mr. Rota was recognizing a North Bay resident, who is a Canadian citizen in good standing. In a gesture of goodwill and solidarity with the Ukrainian people and their president, he sought to acknowledge a “Ukrainian patriot.” And it appears that he is such a patriot who defended his country against the same Russians in another war of aggression. However, that is not how are media and politicians presented it.
What crime has been committed? Are we really to believe that the decorum and good reputation of Parliament have been damaged? That body has been descending into chaos for years and barely anyone takes it seriously! Certainly not the MP’s.
It should be the beacon of our democracy but sadly it is not!
Should we think that President Zelensky will be affronted? I doubt it! He probably thinks Mr. Hunka is a Ukranian patriot and that we are crazy to get so excited over this. Also, he just wants aid to fight the Russians! Do we care what Putin thinks or says? Why would we? Should we worry that people will think the Ukrainians are Nazi’s as Putin says? Maybe if we stopped repeating this untruth about Mr. Hunka, Putin’s lies would have no power! I fear we are creating the lie for him!
Finally, Mr. Rota has taken the fall for this unfortunate misunderstanding created largely by the media and the politicians. There has been little or no support for Mr. Rota as the politicians scurry for cover.
Nonsense is spread suggesting that background checks should have been done! Who does that for someone who sits in the public gallery in the House? Last I heard this was a free country!
I don’t see any connection to the Liberal Party or the PM in spite of the venom from the opposition! And I don’t see any reason to oust the Speaker rather than accept his apology.
But I am most disappointed that almost no one has the courage to defend Mr. Rota or to support him in this difficult time He is a good MP a good Speaker, and a good person! I, for one, wish to thank him for his service and state clearly that I do not believe he did wrong in this matter! I hope he will remain as our MP!
Don C Wallace
North Bay
