After refusing to take responsibility for his (and His Majesty’s) government’s invitation of a former soldier of the Ukrainian Nazi Waffen-SS Galizien Division to be honored in Parliament in Ottawa, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quickly pivoted to blame “Russia and its supporters” for politicizing the Nuremberg Rally on Sept. 22. Trudeau of course failed to apologize to the Russians, Poles, and other Eastern Nazi-occupied nations, but then appeared to offer his most sincere apology to Ukraine, reiterating “how deeply sorry Canada is for the situation this put President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian delegation in.” Zelenskyy, of course, was present, and gave Galician SS soldier Hunka a standing ovation along with the host and rest of the Parliament.
Trudeau then directed his ire at those Russian propagandists who would even state the simple fact that a former Nazi was celebrated in the Canadian Parliament. “It is extremely troubling to think that this egregious error is being politicized by Russia and its supporters to provide false propaganda about what Ukraine is fighting for,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau then shifted back to his non-apology and said that “Friday’s joint session was about what Canada stands for—about our steadfast support of Ukraine’s fight against Putin’s brutality, lies and violence. It was a moment to celebrate and acknowledge the sacrifices of Ukrainians as they fight for their democracy, their freedom, their language and culture, and for peace. This is the side Canada was on in World War II, and this is the side we are on today.” So which side was Canada on? The question should be asked: Was this blatant provocation of hosting a Nazi SS soldier intended to then be used to silence those voices who would dare point out that obvious fact?
Since the U.S. election of 2016, the Russian propaganda narrative has been getting increasingly shrill, with more intense consequences, especially for those who have ended up on the Ukrainian Myrotvorets kill list, like Russian journalist Darya Dugina (d. Aug. 20, 2022) and others. Two days before this event in Ottawa, Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced a new UN resolution whose signers will take steps against “online disinformation.” Canada and the Netherlands began working on the initiative a year ago and launched the resulting Global Declaration on Information Integrity Online at the UNon Sept. 20. The 27 nation-signers, either NATO affiliated or aligned with the Western financial system, are promising to implement “necessary and appropriate measures, including legislation, to address information integrity and platform governance.” This advances the use of the governments’ power to further commandeer the private firms of Silicon Valley in the fight against disinformation. This initiative pushed by Joly will now advance the foreign disinformation and censorship apparatus of the Five Eyes intelligence apparatus, which Canada is a part of.
