Caption: A screenshot showing the flag (second to the left, from right to left, of the 'First Division of the Ukrainian National Army', the direct successor to the Nazi 14th SS Waffen Division, being held in the UCC Toronto’s 2021 Remembrance Day event. Source: A Kontakt TV video

Written by: Aidan Jonah

The Canada Files has reviewed footage of Ukrainian Canadian Congress - Toronto branch's 2021 Remembrance Day ceremony, that shows the honouring of 14th Waffen SS division veterans via holding up a flag of its direct successor the 'First Division of the Ukrainian National Army'. The Ukrainian 'National Army' was created in 1945 on Nazi Germany's orders).

This matched footage contained in a separate now-deleted 2023 video released by UCC Toronto in promotion of its upcoming Remembrance Day ceremony (originally shared by independent researcher Moss Robeson), to be held on November 4, 2023.

The UCC Toronto’s now-deleted promo video is all the more remarkable, as it came more than two weeks after the Nazigate scandal occurred, where Canada’s parliament honoured 98-year old Nazi Jaroslav Hunka, who volunteered and fought for the Nazi Waffen SS 14th division.

The UCC itself was formed in 1940 on the initiative of the Canadian government, bringing together a collection of outright fascist, monarchist and far-right Ukrainian Canadian groups, to serve as a counterweight to the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians which was pro-Soviet (and would soon afterwards have its assets stolen by the Canadian government and given to the UCC). The UCC would go on to campaign “to have Canada accept members of the Waffen-SS’s Galicia Division” and “represented Waffen SS members who came to Canada after World War II.” Canada would, from 1947 on, actively seek out European Nazi SS veterans to import into Canada and pulled the supposed restriction on Nazi volunteers from immigrating to Canada in 1950.

Neither the UCC nor its Toronto branch have condemned the honouring of Hunka. Instead, on October 4, they shared a statement by Professor Paul Robert Magocsi, Chair of Ukrainian Studies, University of Toronto. According to Roger Jordan of World Socialist Web Site, the statement: “obscures the relationship between the Galicia Division and the Waffen-SS—the elite Nazi unit principally responsible for the Holocaust, the violent suppression of civilian discontent and countless other atrocities—and that emphatically denies the Division’s involvement in any war crimes.”

The habit of defending Nazis publicly didn’t begin this year though. In 2007, the UCC honoured Waffen 14th SS Division veterans for serving the ‘First Division of the Ukrainian National Army', including Jaroslav Hunka. A 2010 UCC Remembrance Day statement claimed the Waffen 14th SS Division was among those who “sacrificed and risked their lives for peace and freedom around the world.”

Back in this year, the UCC shared Professor Magosci’s statement on October 4, the same day that their Toronto branch shared the promo video containing them honouring 14th Waffen SS division veterans.

Who exactly attended the event?

Notable individuals attended UCC Toronto’s 2021 Remembrance Day event.

They include Liberal MP Yvan Baker, who can be seen having a centre view of the ceremony as the 14th Waffen SS division was being honoured by the holding up of the aforementioned flag (3:51- 3:54).

MP Yvan Baker can be seen on the far left of the screenshot, attending the UCC Toronto’s 2021 Remembrance Day event. Source: A Kontakt TV video

President of the Ukrainian War Veterans Association of Canada, Andre Sochaniwsky, spoke at the event (1:39-2:15). Additionally, Canadian Armed Forces members can be seen performing in uniform at the event (4:55-5:01). Ukrainian National Federation of Canada's Toronto chapter can also be seen the event (2:21-2:26).

The Canada Files reached out to a number of organizations, a government ministry and some MP’s with a request comment. All listed below did not respond to TCF’s request for comment:

Liberal MP Yvan Baker
Ukrainian Canadian Congress’ Toronto branch
Ukrainian Canadian Congress
Ukrainian War Veterans Association of Canada
Liberal MP Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence
Ukrainian National Federation of Canada
Ukrainian National Federation of Canada’s Toronto branch

Canada’s Department of National Defence said the “DND/CAF continues to take a strong stance against all forms of hate, which are completely incompatible with its values and culture” and that it was “looking into the matter further”.

All listed MPs, ministries and organizations, except for the UCC’s Toronto branch, were asked if they condemn the holding up of the flag of the 'First Division of the Ukrainian National Army', the direct successor to the 14th Waffen SS division, created on Nazi Germany's orders. They were also asked if their attendance for the UCC Toronto’s upcoming Remembrance Day event on November 4, would be conditional on a commitment for the flag of the 'First Division of the Ukrainian National Army' (14th division Waffen SS successor) to not be held during the ceremony. None of them have replied to these questions, as of this article’s release.

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress was asked if they would demand that the 'First Division of the Ukrainian National Army' (14th division Waffen SS successor) flag is no longer held during its Toronto branch's Remembrance Day events? They did not answer this question.

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress’ Toronto branch was asked by this author:

“For this year's UCC Toronto Remembrance Day event, will the UCC's Toronto branch commit to not honouring the 14th Waffen SS division via holding up a flag of its direct successor the 'First Division of the Ukrainian National Army'?”

UCC’s Toronto branch did not reply to this question.

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Aidan Jonah is the Editor-in-Chief of The Canada Files, a socialist, anti-imperialist news outlet founded in 2019. Jonah has broken numerous stories, including how the Canadian Armed Forces trained neo-Nazi "journalist" Roman Protasevich while he was with the Azov Battalion, and how a CIA front group (the NED) funded the group (URAP) which drove the "Uyghur genocide" vote in parliament to pass in February 2021. Jonah recently wrote a report for the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council, held in September 2021.

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