Hunka received two standing ovations from all house members, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, other party leaders, and visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The incident, seen as a political blunder[2][3] and a scandal, such that it drew comparisons to the most embarrassing moments in Canada's history,[4] was leveraged by the Russian establishment to further its justifications for waging war in Ukraine, which had been started under a pretext of "denazification", among other stated reasons.

Rota resigned as speaker five days later, and the House unanimously adopted a motion to condemn Nazism and withdraw its recognition of Hunka.

According to Arel, it was "difficult to determine" whether specific groups of the division took part in atrocities, but he said that by the time Hunka's unit reached the front, German operations relating to the Holocaust would have ended in that area.

[13] Following the conclusion of World War II in Europe, Hunka, now a displaced person, settled in the United Kingdom and joined the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain.

[14] In 1951, he married Margaret Ann Edgerton (1931–2018), and the couple emigrated to Canada three years later, settling in Toronto, where they raised their two sons, Martin and Peter, and became active in the Ukrainian-Canadian community.

On 6 February 2024, the parliament of Ternopil province in Ukraine awarded Hunka with a Badge "for Merits to Ternopil Region" for his significant personal contribution to providing assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, active charitable and public activities, and on the occasion of the 112th anniversary of the birth of Yaroslav Stetsko.

[23][24] While there existed a policy of denying entry to former Nazi military personnel, members of this unit were exempted by a 1950 cabinet-level decision.

[26][25] SS Galizien was a significant topic of the investigation;[22] according to the report, "Charges of war crimes against members of the Galicia Division have never been substantiated.

[33][34] On 8 May 2022, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies said that Hunka's unit's "crimes against humanity during the Holocaust are well-documented",[48] and condemned SS Galizien as "responsible for the mass murder of innocent civilians with a level of brutality and malice that is unimaginable",[40] referencing events such as the 1944 Huta Pieniacka massacre of Polish civilians.

[52] The event renewed interest in the topic of the handling of suspected war criminals who immigrated to Canada,[21][22] and led to calls to declassify the second part of the Deschênes Commission's report.

"[57][58][59] The president of the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada defended Hunka and stated that there was nothing wrong with the Canadian Parliament applauding a man "who fought for his country", although acknowledging in the circumstances "this may not have been correct".

[69] Asked to comment, deputy prime minister of Canada Chrystia Freeland responded by saying that Putin was being effective at "weaponizing [the] mistake", urged the Canadian public to be cautious of Russian propaganda and to "push back very, very hard at everything Vladimir Putin says", and reiterated that actions causing Hunka to be recognized in the Parliament were a "terrible mistake".

[70][71] In the wake of the controversy, Hunka's family were reported to have gone into hiding in their hometown of North Bay, and did not respond to interview requests.

[73][74] The day prior, government house leader Karina Gould had filed a motion to strike the recognition of Hunka from the official record.

[77] On 26 September, Polish education minister Przemysław Czarnek stated in a Twitter post that he had taken steps towards the possible extradition of Hunka.

[78][79] In the post, Czarnek said: "In view of the scandalous events in the Canadian Parliament, which involved honoring a member of the criminal Nazi SS Galizien formation in the presence of President Zelenskyy, I have taken steps towards the possible extradition of this man to Poland.