QUESTION PERIOD — Prime Minister’s Office
Invitation to Reception
February 6, 2024
Senator Gold, when Yaroslav Hunka, a former Nazi soldier, was invited to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s address to Parliament last fall, Prime Minister Trudeau said, “The Speaker was solely responsible for the invitation . . .” — calling Speaker Rota’s resignation “. . . the right thing to do.”
Now we learn of a separate invitation that was sent four days before President Zelenskyy’s address:
Dear Yaroslav Hunka, The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, is pleased to invite you to a special event. The event will take place on Friday, September 22, 2023, at 8:30 p.m. in Toronto, Ontario.
Prime Minister Trudeau and the Prime Minister’s Office misled Canadians for months about their direct involvement in this international embarrassment. If Speaker Rota’s resignation was the right thing to do, what will the consequences be for the Prime Minister?
As senators know by now, a thousand or so invitations were sent out for an event in Toronto at the request — in this particular case — of a national organization, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. The Prime Minister had no knowledge of who was invited. The person in question did not attend. This is quite a different and distinct issue from the very unfortunate circumstance that occurred here on the Hill.
Senator Gold, do you really expect us to believe that the Prime Minister’s Office does not vet the Prime Minister’s invitees to his own private reception, especially one featuring perhaps the most threatened and vulnerable target in the world: President Zelenskyy? First, he blamed the Speaker, and then he tried to blame Parliament. I’m sure some staffer has been — or will be — thrown overboard too. Now he’s blaming the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. When will the Prime Minister finally admit it’s his fault?
This is not a question of blaming, honourable senator. This is a question of simply reporting the facts, and the facts are the following: For a community rally in Toronto, where a thousand invitations were sent out, with a list generated by reputable organizations, the Prime Minister — and this would be true for any prime minister — simply had no knowledge, as has been stated, and, therefore, the insinuations and allegations are simply unfounded.
