Quebec parliament asked to dissociate itself from Ottawa after Nazi visit

The Quebec national assembly will decide on Tuesday whether or not to dissociate itself from the House of Commons, which gave a standing ovation to a former Nazi soldier.

The Parti Québécois (PQ) will table a motion on Tuesday afternoon in response to this controversy, which has been circulating around the world.

During the Ukrainian president's visit on Friday, parliamentarians in the galleries gave a standing ovation to a Ukrainian veteran who had served in a German army unit on the Russian front during the Second World War.

At a news scrum, PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said that it was "astonishing" that the commons was giving a standing ovation to an SS man and that Canada had become "the laughing stock" of the whole world.

"It is an indefensible and uncomfortable situation," he said. "I think it's important for Quebec to put on the record internationally that Quebec dissociates itself from these events, that we had nothing to do with this historic and shameful blunder."

The text of the PQ motion also calls on the national assembly to express its solidarity with the Jewish people.

The motion will be debated after Question Period on Tuesday afternoon.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 26, 2023.