OTTAWA, ON — Canada’s House of Commons on Tuesday elected Greg Fergus as its new speaker, making the Liberal lawmaker the first Black Canadian to hold the position.
The elections were launched because Anthony Rota resignation, Who resigned last week after calling out — and honoring — a man who fought in a Nazi military unit during World War II.
After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke before the Canadian Parliament Last month, Canadian lawmakers applauded 98-year-old Jaroslaw Hunka when Rutte called attention to him. Ruta presented Hunka as a war hero who fought in the ranks of the 1st Ukrainian Division.
Observers later began to publicize the fact that the 1st Ukrainian Division was also known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division, or the 14th SS Waffen Division, a volunteer unit that had been under the command of the Nazis. Rota later I apologize Saying that he was not aware of this.
Fergus, 54, is a Liberal MP in Quebec.
After lawmakers elected him to the position through a secret ballot, he promised to lead with respect and encouraged his fellow lawmakers to respect each other. He noted that Canadians are watching.
“The speaker, to use the old hockey analogy, is nothing more than a referee,” Fergus said in his first speech from the chair. “And if there’s one thing I know, it’s that no one pays good money to go see the referee. They go to see the stars: you.
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