U of M professor prompts Putin derision of former Speaker

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This article was published 06/10/2023 (821 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A University of Manitoba professor’s question to President Vladmir Putin during an international forum Thursday prompted the Russian leader to ridicule Parliament and its former Speaker for recently honouring a man in the House of Commons who fought for the Nazis.

“As you know, the Canadian Parliament has just made itself a laughingstock of the world by applauding a Ukrainian Nazi, a veteran Nazi, in Parliament,” U of M political studies Prof. Radhika Desai said, addressing Putin at the Valdai International Discussion Club meeting in Sochi, Russia.

“It really shows the extent to which the Western position of which Canada is a kind of leading edge has become so based on hubristic notions, ignorant hubristic notions, that these people have forgotten how much Russia has done for the defeat of Nazism.”

Putin seized the opportunity to comment on the debacle, while assuring the crowd at the Russian think tank forum he did not arrange for Desai to ask the question in advance.

Members of Parliament gave Yaroslav Hunka a standing ovation Sept. 22, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was visiting the House of Commons.

It was later revealed the 98-year-old veteran was a member of Germany’s Waffen-SS Galicia Division — accused of a variety of atrocities, including the killings of Jews, Ukrainians and Poles.

Speaker Anthony Rota, who invited Hunka and lauded him in the House, later resigned his post.

Putin chided Rota for describing Hunka as a Canadian hero, and said if he did not realize a veteran who fought against Russia — which was part of Allied forces in the Second World War — was a Nazi, then he must be an “idiot.”

If Rota did know, but chose to honour Hunka regardless, he is a “bastard,” Putin added.

“This is the sort of people we have to deal with. This is the sort of opponents we have in certain Western countries.”

A Russian transcription released after the forum indicates Putin instead used the word “rascal.” There are several other discrepancies between the transcript and a recording of the forum in which an interpreter translated Putin’s words in real-time.

Before delivering the remark, the Russian president noted he did not intend to offend Canadians. “We still treat Canada with respect, especially its people.”

Deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland addressed Putin’s comments while speaking to reporters Thursday in Ottawa.

“The former Speaker made a really big mistake. He took responsibility for that mistake, and he resigned,” she said.

“Vladimir Putin is at weaponizing that mistake, and I would really urge all of us to understand that Russian propaganda is real, that Russia, right now, even as we speak, is killing the brave people of Ukraine, and we need to push back very, very hard against everything that Vladimir Putin says and does.”

Desai, who did not respond to requests for comment, recognized Russia for its contributions during the Second World War.

The University of Manitoba declined to comment on Desai’s participation in the forum, and noted there are no records she used university funds to attend the conference in Russia.

A spokesperson pointed to a statement released in March, in which university officials condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“UM is committed to supporting students and employees who are impacted they this conflict,” university president Michael Benarroch said at the time. “We will continue to assess all the options available to UM and determine which ones are the most appropriate and helpful as the war continues to evolve.”

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca