Mr. Speaker, as a Polish Canadian, I can say that the month of September is difficult for many Poles and Polish Canadians. This is when they commemorate the German Nazi invasion of Poland, as well as the Soviet Russian invasion of Poland on September 17.
Six million Poles were murdered in the Second World War. One out of five citizens was killed.
The presence of the gentleman in the gallery was deeply hurtful to Polish Canadians and to Poles. He was a member of the First Ukrainian Division, or the Waffen-SS Galicia Division. This was a particularly and exceptionally cruel unit that viciously murdered thousands of Jews and Poles in eastern Poland.
That moment in the House was deeply painful to my community, to Polish Canadians and to Poles abroad.
However, Mr. Speaker, I know you as a good man. The delegations that come here, internationally, know you as a good man. You have taken ownership of this grievous error. You have promptly taken full responsibility on your shoulders. You apologized deeply.
My interest here is that we work together as parliamentarians to make sure that we have the systems in place so that this never happens again in the House.