A Nazi is a Recipient of the Order of Canada

The Yaroslav Hunka issue is by no means, a one-off mega embarrassment for Canada. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, kindly refer to my post "Canada Salutes Ukrainian-Canadian Nazi" published on Tuesday). 

 

Canadian Governor General Mary Simon has apologized and expressed “regret” that her office awarded a top Canadian civilian honor that recognizes outstanding achievement and contributions to the country, the Order of Canada (right) in 1987 to a Ukrainian-Canadian who formerly served in the very same 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS as Hunka! 

 

The statement was reported on Tuesday by Forward, a Jewish news organization that previously helped expose Hunka's dark past. 

 

Peter Savaryn (left) was already mentioned in connection in the Hunka scandal due to his tenure as the twelfth chancellor of the University of Alberta from 1982 to 1986. Last month, the university announced they were shutting down an endowment named after Hunka. The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish advocacy group, urged the university to acknowledge Savaryn’s past as well. 

 

Savaryn died in 2017 at the age of 90 and as part of the constitution of the Order of Canada, his award was automatically rescinded. He was also awarded Golden Jubilee and Diamond Jubilee medals, and the authorities are considering whether those can be rescinded. 

 

The incident with Hunka has drawn new attention to the Canadian government’s past complicity in allowing former Nazi criminals to immigrate here in the decades after the Second World War.