COURTING THE MULTICULTURAL VOTE IN LAVAL-LES-NLES
By Martin C. Barry
Laval News
October 9, 2008
Canada
Evereklian claims to have crucial support from many of those
constituents
Laval-les-Ã~Nles Conservative Agop Evereklian meets Mourelatos
supermarket owner Peter Mouleratos out campaigning in Chomedey
last week. Out campaigning on Melville Avenue in the heart of
Laval’s Chomedey district last week, Laval-les-Ã~Nles Conservative
candidate Agop Evereklian met residents of Armenian, Greek, Italian,
French, English and other origins. "What I like about this is that
I can communicate to my citizens in their language of choice," says
Evereklian, who is himself Armenian, but who is conversant in five
languages, and "manages" in two others.
Security on agenda In step with the Conservative Party’s agenda during
this election, Evereklian says, "One of the concerns I come across on
a daily basis is security, especially if you go to the western part of
Chomedey closer to Ste. Dorothée. Home invasions is one concern that
people have. Then lately in recent days we’ve been asked questions
about culture and about the juvenile criminal system."
In a riding that is among the most thoroughly multicultural anywhere in
Canada, Evereklian claims to have the crucial support of many of those
constituents. Earlier this week, in a bid to gain the support of Greek
voters, he was to release an important statement regarding his position
on the controversial FYROM/Macedonia recognition issue. Evereklian is
making as much as he can of the fact that he is a longtime resident of
Ste. Dorothée in the riding, and that his principal rival, Liberal
incumbent Raymonde Folco, lives on the other side of the Rivière
des Prairies in west end Montreal.
Lives in the riding "This is the difference," he says. "When you live
in the riding, even when you are just simply living, people can see
you, people can talk with you and be with you, and most of the time
when I’m out doing my personal business, I see citizens, constituents,
and we say hello, we exchange, and this is what I love about serving
the community … These are little moments that give me the courage
and the inspiration to go on and continue."
Perhaps more significantly, Evereklian says he has the support of
four former Laval-les-Ã~Nles Liberal riding association presidents
(Evereklian also served as president), who defected from the Liberal
ranks because of irreconciliable grievances against the party. In
all, as many as 650 former Laval-les-Ã~Nles Liberals now belong to
the local Conservative riding association, Evereklian claims. "This
is only the tip of the iceberg … I am receiving a lot of people in
my campaign office, citizens who claim to be Liberals, but they say
they need change and this time they are supporting our camp."
Recognition factor Stepping into the Mourelatos supermarket on Notre
Dame Boulevard, Evereklian is greeted warmly by its well-known owner,
Peter Mourelatos. "I’m a simple candidate," Evereklian says, noting
that he doesn’t have the fame and stature of an incumbent MP. "But
when I come to these places it’s amazing to see the number of people
who recognize me." From there, Evereklian is off for an interview
at a local multiethnic radio station, doing everything he can to
convince all the riding’s voters that he’s the right choice as
Laval-les-Ã~Nles’s next MP.
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