Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for that apology.
I am parliamentarian, a Canadian of Jewish origin and a descendant of Holocaust survivors. A majority of my family walked into Auschwitz-Birkenau and only my grandfather and his brother walked out. I think this hurt all of us in Parliament. Personally, I feel particularly hurt by this.
As parliamentarians, we place our trust in you, Mr. Speaker. There are many times when we recognize people in the gallery, and we do so on your good advice and your good offices. All of us here did that in the chamber on Friday, because we trusted you on that.
This unfortunate situation has been deeply embarrassing for Canada's Parliament. It has been deeply embarrassing for Canada. It was deeply embarrassing for the President of Ukraine, who came here in friendship, who came here because we are a strong ally, and who came here because he trusted Canadians.
I appreciate that you are taking responsibility, Mr. Speaker, because this was your initiative, and you have confirmed that neither the Government of Canada nor the Ukrainian delegation had any prior knowledge of this individual being invited to the House or that he would be recognized.
However, given this deeply embarrassing situation, 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.
For all those who have loved ones who were in the Holocaust, for Jewish Canadians, today being Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, a day of atonement, a day to prepare for the year ahead, we stand with you, Mr. Speaker, in this. We recognize this was a deeply hurtful moment. Many of us in this chamber feel that hurt acutely.
I want to ask all colleagues, particularly those in the Conservative Party of Canada, to please ensure that we do not politicize this issue. I do not think it helps anybody. We need to ensure that we move forward, recognizing this mistake and standing in solidarity together to reiterate our commitment to Jewish Canadians, but also to Ukrainian Canadians and the people who are fighting for freedom, peace and justice in Ukraine right now.