Groups honoring the Waffen-SS reportedly received $2.2 million from the government over the last seven years
© Getty Images / Ruslan Sitarchuk
Ottawa has given $2.2 million over the last seven years to Ukrainian-Canadian groups that celebrate Nazi collaborators, Jewish-American news outlet The Forward reported on Wednesday.
According to the outlet, among the recipients of government grants are defenders of 98-year-old Ukrainian Nazi veteran Yaroslav Hunka, whose presence at a special session of the Canadian parliament last month caused a major scandal.
The largest recipient of government financial support is the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, which is known for praising Hunka’s division (SS Galicia) and protecting a monument to it in suburban Toronto, the Forward article says. This organization is listed as a receiver of nearly $1.5 million between 2016 and 2022, according to public records.
The Canadian government also supports the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada, a more than 40-year-old cultural group, whose logo includes the insignia of a faction of the fascist Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. Between 2015 and 2022, it received $140,000 in grants, mostly to create summer jobs for youth, the outlet reported, stressing that the federation’s leader made statements exonerating Hunka last month.
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The New Pathway newspaper, which fought for the monument to Ukrainian ultranationalist and Nazi collaborator Roman Shukhevich in Canada, received about $68,000 from a fund that supports local publishers, The Forward reported. Other Canadian government-funded organizations listed in the publication have also supported veterans of the Ukrainian Nazi unit or otherwise praised collaborators.
In late September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized for applauding a Ukrainian Waffen SS veteran during a parliamentary ceremony attended by the president of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky.
A few days later, Canadian Governor General Mary Simon reportedly expressed regret that in 1987, her office awarded the country’s second-highest merit to a Ukrainian immigrant who served in the 14th Waffen-SS Division.
