Mr. Speaker, as chair of the Canada-Slovakia parliamentary friendship group, it is my obligation to point out that the individual in question who was recognized on Friday was part of the division that was used against the Slovak National Uprising, which was the military uprising organized by Slovak resistance movements during World War II, comprising the anti-Nazi political faction of the Slovak nation, which is my heritage. Units of this division this man fought with were sent to help squash the Slovak rebellion. Battle groups were formed to actively search out and destroy members of the resistance. According to Slovak historian Karol Fremal, the division's members were helping anti-partisan, repressive and terrorist actions, and they committed murders and other excesses.
Based on what I have heard in the House today, I feel that this is a government trying to collectivize responsibility for an incident that was solely within its purview. By inviting the Ukrainian president to our country, we had a duty to protect him in all aspects. With the government's either having a non-existent vetting process or failing to have a judgement-free one for people who would be recognized and lauded in the House of Commons, the House of Commons should not be accepting collective responsibility for the abject, egregious lack of judgment that has tarnished the reputation of our country and led to people like the ambassador from Poland's demanding an apology from us.
This is a time in which our allies need to be standing with us. There should be no question about whether or not we have our act together, yet here we are having this debate. It is beyond an embarrassment; it is a stain on our country. I refuse, as a member of this place who represents 120,000 Canadians, to collectively share responsibility with a government that has a pattern of not vetting questionable individuals with whom its members take meetings, such as Jaspal Atwal and Joshua Boyle. I will not, on behalf of my constituents, take one ounce of blame for the government's failing a vetting process.
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals can say that it was within your purview, but they invited this world leader here and they failed to vet this. So, no, on behalf of the constituents of Calgary Nose Hill, I will not accept collective responsibility. The buck stops at the Prime Minister's Office.