The Hunka affair has embarrassed Canada — how bad is it, historically speaking?

Since parliamentarians applauded a Ukrainian veteran who, it would later be learned, fought in a Nazi unit, political parties and observers have agreed on one thing: Canada's reputation has been tarnished. But, according to the experts interviewed, Canadian diplomacy has already seen worse.

The Hunka affair has embarrassed Canada — how bad is it, historically speaking?

Historians and foreign policy experts say that diplomatic screwups and pratfalls in the past have had some real-world policy consequences.