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Metro News, Canada
April 19 2015
How Canada recognized the Armenian Genocide in 2004
By Staff
Sarkis Assadourian took his seat in Parliament with a purpose: as
Canada's first MP of Armenian descent, he wanted Ottawa to recognize
the 1915 slaughter of Armenians as a genocide.
Assadourian, a child of survivors and Liberal MP from 1993 to 2004,
knew he would have a fight on his hands. Several motions had been
tabled for genocide recognition. All failed for the same reasons as
they have in other countries.
"First there was the NATO alliance with Turkey," he says. "Then Canada
didn't want to be the odd man out in its relations with a NATO ally.
And there were threats from Turkey that it would be bad for economic
relations."
There was also the 1982 assassination of a Turkish military attaché in
Ottawa -- a murder that an Armenian group claimed responsibility for,
but a crime that was never solved.
But in April 2004, Bill M-380 passed by a margin of 153-68. It was
introduced by Bloc Québécois MP Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral and seconded
by Assadourian, the NDP's Alexa McDonough and Tory Jason Kenney.
The bill's passage was the end of a rocky road that bumped over
interparty disputes, foreign policy fears, procedural wrangling -- and,
Assadourian says, tense closed-door talks with the Turkish
authorities.
"The Turkish ambassador had clear arguments against the bill. One,
that we'd suffer economically -- Turkey wouldn't buy Candu reactors or
Canadian-made trains. Second, the threat of violence (against the
Turkish Embassy) by Armenian extremists. Third, that Armenians would
make claims against Turkey for confiscated land."
The Liberal government of then prime minister Paul Martin was worried.
As reassurance, Assadourian was asked to make a personal -- and
symbolic -- declaration that he had no territorial claim against the
Turkish government.
"I thought if I didn't sign this now, I'd never have the chance to
pass the motion," he says. "I signed."
For 67-year-old Assadourian, who grew up in Syria and immigrated to
Canada in the 1960s, it was mission accomplished. "I'm glad to have
played a role in that historic change," he says.
One of his goals as an MP, however, is still unfulfilled. "I wanted to
see a Canadian Embassy open in (the Armenian capital) Yerevan. That
doesn't look likely right now, but who knows? There is always time."
http://metronews.ca/news/canada/1344377/how-canada-recognized-the-armenian-genocide-in-2004/
April 19 2015
How Canada recognized the Armenian Genocide in 2004
By Staff
Sarkis Assadourian took his seat in Parliament with a purpose: as
Canada's first MP of Armenian descent, he wanted Ottawa to recognize
the 1915 slaughter of Armenians as a genocide.
Assadourian, a child of survivors and Liberal MP from 1993 to 2004,
knew he would have a fight on his hands. Several motions had been
tabled for genocide recognition. All failed for the same reasons as
they have in other countries.
"First there was the NATO alliance with Turkey," he says. "Then Canada
didn't want to be the odd man out in its relations with a NATO ally.
And there were threats from Turkey that it would be bad for economic
relations."
There was also the 1982 assassination of a Turkish military attaché in
Ottawa -- a murder that an Armenian group claimed responsibility for,
but a crime that was never solved.
But in April 2004, Bill M-380 passed by a margin of 153-68. It was
introduced by Bloc Québécois MP Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral and seconded
by Assadourian, the NDP's Alexa McDonough and Tory Jason Kenney.
The bill's passage was the end of a rocky road that bumped over
interparty disputes, foreign policy fears, procedural wrangling -- and,
Assadourian says, tense closed-door talks with the Turkish
authorities.
"The Turkish ambassador had clear arguments against the bill. One,
that we'd suffer economically -- Turkey wouldn't buy Candu reactors or
Canadian-made trains. Second, the threat of violence (against the
Turkish Embassy) by Armenian extremists. Third, that Armenians would
make claims against Turkey for confiscated land."
The Liberal government of then prime minister Paul Martin was worried.
As reassurance, Assadourian was asked to make a personal -- and
symbolic -- declaration that he had no territorial claim against the
Turkish government.
"I thought if I didn't sign this now, I'd never have the chance to
pass the motion," he says. "I signed."
For 67-year-old Assadourian, who grew up in Syria and immigrated to
Canada in the 1960s, it was mission accomplished. "I'm glad to have
played a role in that historic change," he says.
One of his goals as an MP, however, is still unfulfilled. "I wanted to
see a Canadian Embassy open in (the Armenian capital) Yerevan. That
doesn't look likely right now, but who knows? There is always time."
http://metronews.ca/news/canada/1344377/how-canada-recognized-the-armenian-genocide-in-2004/