“He’s an idiot or a bastard” - Putin rips Canada House Speaker

Russian President Vladimir Putin has, predictably, weighed in on the scandal that has enveloped Parliament and led to the resignation of the House of Commons' Speaker, Anthony Rota, calling Rota an "idiot" if he didn't understand that a veteran who fought against Russia during the Second World War, fought on the side of the "Nazi forces."

He said if the Speaker did know and called Yaroslav Hunka a hero anyway, "he's a bastard."

Either way, Putin, who spoke to a forum in Sochi, Russia, for more than three hours Thursday, said the incident shows "the kind of people we have to deal with ... in certain Western countries."