Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Thank you to the members for inviting me.
Allow me to provide a bit of context for the discussion we're having today, because it's important. The context is a significant increase in anti‑Semitism in Canada. Just this week, La Presse published an anti‑Semitic cartoon that it had to withdraw, and it apologized for publishing it.
A theatre in Hamilton, the Playhouse Cinema, cancelled the Hamilton Jewish Film Festival under pressure. One of your colleagues, NDP MP Brian Masse, had to apologize for his comment in the House linking a ceasefire in Gaza with tackling anti-Semitism here.
The Toronto police released their numbers regarding hate and saw a 93% rise in hate crimes in Toronto since October 7, the majority of which targeted the Jewish community. I could add that the Jewish community had to get an injunction in Montreal to protect its institutions, including a community centre, a school and a synagogue. I could talk about the demonstrations against synagogues in Thornhill, Montreal and other places.
This is the context and it is important to know this.
Now, what are we talking about? We're talking here about the invitation extended to Yaroslav Hunka, a veteran of the 14th grenadier division of the Waffen‑SS during the Second World War. Let's be clear: This was a volunteer unit of the Waffen‑SS, which the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg said was, as a whole, a criminal organization that organized the mass murder of Jews during the Second World War. So we're not talking about an organization like the Knights of Columbus or the Club Richelieu.
This man was officially recognized and introduced in the House of Commons by the Speaker of the House and was given a standing ovation. It made headlines around the world. The House of Commons, the heart of Canadian democracy, was sullied by this event, not only by the presence of this man but also by the standing ovation he received. Also, of course, it served the Russian propaganda of Vladimir Putin, who is in the middle of an illegal war against our Ukrainian allies. That's important to note as well. So it was an embarrassment for Canada on the international stage.
Inviting Hunka hurt deeply Holocaust survivors, their families and Jewish Canadians, and I would say that it hurt all Canadians.
We know that the Office of the Speaker of the House of Commons didn't deliberately invite a former member of the Waffen‑SS to be applauded in the House of Commons, but rather that it was an oversight.
This was a failure of vetting and a failure of due diligence. However, this is not an isolated incident.
In December 2022, a reception was held here in Parliament by the Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group. Among the attendees was a man named Nazih Khatatba.
Who is this Mr. Khatatba?
He was—at the time at least—the editor of a publication that called the Holocaust a hoax and referred to Judaism as a terrorist religion. His publication spoke approvingly in 2014 of the synagogue massacre in Jerusalem in which Canadian citizen Chaim Rotman was murdered with an axe while at prayer. This man, Khatatba, no more than Hunka, shouldn't have been invited to Parliament.
I repeat: Parliament, as the institution at the heart of Canadian democracy, must do better to prevent such people from being invited.
Think about it. We sent a man to the moon 50 years ago. I'm sure we can do a better job of vetting people who are welcomed into Parliament.
I know that time flies, Madam Speaker.
We ask you, Madam Chair and committee members, to implement effective controls to ensure that such incidents never happen again. You can't just react to the most recent incident.
Having people like Hunka in Parliament sends a terrible message to the Jews of Canada. He was a member of the Waffen-SS. Having people like Khatatba in Parliament is also unacceptable.
Members of Parliament, what you say in this place matters. What you do in this place matters. Who you let into this place matters. Please ensure that similar incidents don't happen again.
Thank you.