Armenian National Committee of Canada
Comité National Arménien du Canada
130 Albert St., Suite/Bureau 1007
Ottawa, ON
KIP 5G4
Tel./Tél. (613) 235-2622 Fax/Téléc. (613) 238-2622
E-mail/courriel:national.office@anc-canad a.com
PRESS RELEASE
June 13, 2008
Contact: Roupen Kouyoumjian
Armenian Genocide Teaching Gets Final Approval
Toronto-The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), at a special meeting
on June 12, unanimously approved the teaching of optional Genocide and
Human Rights Curriculum to Grade 11 students. The curriculum includes
the Armenian Genocide module, in addition to the Holocaust and the
Rwandan Genocide.
The decision was the final step in the ratification of the curriculum
which TDSB has been developing for the past three years. The vote
followed the unanimous recommendation (June 2) of the Program and
School Services Committee to adopt the curriculum.
Some 50 members of the Turkish community, carrying Turkish and Azeri
flags, protested the inclusion of the Armenian module in the TDSB
curriculum.
In the past six months the Council of Turkish Canadians and the
Federation of Canadian Turkish Associations have mounted a
well-orchestrated and relentless campaign of misinformation, innuendo,
intimidation and dishonest tactics to pressure the TDSB to drop the
Armenian Genocide as one of the three case studies in the curriculum.
The TDSB offered two hearings to Turkish representatives to air their
concerns and register their objections. Furthermore, the TDSB created
a special review committee of experts to review the curriculum and
address the concerns of the Turkish and Ukrainian communities. The
latter objected to the absence of the Ukrainian Famine (Holodomor) in
the curriculum.
After careful examination of historical documentation, experts’
research, oral deputations of the stakeholders and their written
arguments for and against the curriculum, the review committee, the
TDSB staff and trustees reaffirmed that the Armenian massacres of 1915
were genocide and should be taught as such.
The Board said the Ukrainian Famine should be addressed by different
means during the scholastic year, but not as a unit on its
own. Trustee Mari Rutka recommended that a curriculum guide on the
Holodomor should be developed for use in all high schools in 2009 and
that there should be an annual recognition of the event.
The Genocide and Human Rights curriculum will be taught in Toronto
high schools starting this September. Already, 12 schools have listed
the curriculum as part of their next school year’s programs.
The media–print and electronic–provided extensive coverage to
yesterday’s meeting and to the approval of the curriculum.
Dr. Girair Basmadjian, president of Armenian National Committee of
Canada (ANCC), credited the vigilance and the leadership of ANCC and
its -cooperation and co-ordination with the Zoryan Institute, and many
other Armenian community organizations and churches,- for upholding
the truth and for rendering justice to victims of the Armenian
Genocide.
Aris Babikian, executive director, ANCC, said he was delighted to see
-Turkish government’s and Turkish ultra-nationalists’ heavy-handed
modus operandi did not succeed in undermining the credibility of our
educational institutions. Once again, as in many other jurisdictions,
the denialists’ bankrupt arguments and revisionist history failed to
persuade the TDSB. The Board should be proud of its achievement and
its pioneering work.-
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The ANCC is the largest and the most influential Canadian-Armenian
grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a
network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Canada and
affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCC actively advances
the concerns of the Canadian-Armenian community on a broad range of
issues.
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Le CNAC est l’organisation politique canadienne-arménienne la plus
large et influentielle. Collaborant avec une série de bureaux,
chapitres et souteneurs à travers le Canada et des organisations
affiliées à travers le monde, le CNAC s’occupe activement des
inquiétudes de la communauté canadienne-arménienne.
Regional Chapters/Sections régionales
Montréal – Laval – Ottawa – Toronto – Hamilton – Cambridge –
St. Catharines – Windsor – Vancouver