Canada apologized for awarding SS man Savarin in 1987

The office of Canada’s Governor General Mary Simon has apologized for nominating Peter Savarin, a former member of the SS Galicia Division, for the country’s highest civilian honor, the Order of Canada, in 1987. About it reports CTV channel.

“It is with deep regret that we acknowledge that Peter Savarin was awarded the Order of Canada in 1987, and we sincerely apologize to Canadians for any distress or pain this award may have caused,” said Chancellery spokeswoman Lynn Santer.

The governor general’s office added that the decision to nominate Savarin for the award was discontinued following his death in 2017. Also currently “under consideration” are the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, which the SS man received in 2002, and the Diamond Jubilee Medal. awarded to him in 2012

The office noted that they will work to ensure that the national awards system reflects the current values ​​of the country. It explained that the historical appointments were made in the context of “limited information available at the time.”

According to CTV, Savarin was a lawyer, worked as the rector of the University of Alberta and served as president of the World Congress of Free Ukrainians (today the World Congress of Ukrainians; the organization is recognized as undesirable in the Russian Federation). His nomination to the Order of Canada also noted his work “to promote multiculturalism” in the country.

During World War II, Savarin served in the 14th SS Volunteer Infantry Division “Galicia”, writes The Forward. According to the publication, Savarin and Yaroslav Hunka, who had previously been invited to the Canadian Parliament, subsequently fled to Canada among the 2,000 fighters of the division.

On September 22, Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons Anthony Rota invited Ukrainian Nazi Yaroslav Hunka to a meeting of the Canadian Parliament with the participation of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. The SS veteran was presented as a war hero and honored with applause. Rota later apologized and resigned.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the incident a disgrace “for all of Canada.” He apologized to Zelensky and the Ukrainian delegation “for the position in which they were placed,” emphasizing that Ottawa will continue to support Kyiv.

The Russian Embassy in Canada considered that these words were not enough, and called Trudeau apologize to the Russians. The Kremlin called Canada’s attitude towards the memory of World War II “sloppy.” Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov statedthat Ottawa should learn a lesson from the situation and in the future stand in solidarity with the Russian Federation’s initiatives to condemn Nazism.