MOTION TO BE INTRODUCED IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT TO DECLARE APRIL AS GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE MONTH

18:39, 26 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Motion to be Introduced in House of Commons to declare April Genocide
Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month

The Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) has worked closely
with Mr. Brad Butt, Member of Parliament for Mississauga – Streetsville
(Conservative) on a motion to declare April as Genocide Remembrance,
Condemnation and Prevention Month and, among other things, to mark
April 24 of each year as Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, Horizon
Weekly reports.

The ANCC urges all Canadians dedicated to the cause of preventing
future genocides and properly recognizing past genocides to make
their voices heard by writing or calling their Members of Parliament
and asking them to vote for this motion.

ANCC President Dr. Girair Basmajian said “This motion reaffirms
Canada’s commitment to the important cause of genocide prevention
and recognizes that the first step to prevention is to ensure that
we remember and condemn past genocides.” Dr. Basmajian further stated
“We are very grateful that this motion designates April 24 as Armenian
Genocide Memorial Day so that all Canadians can join with the Armenian
community to work to prevent future genocides, which is especially
important in light of the religiously and ethnically motivated violence
against minorities currently taking place in Iraq and Syria.”

The Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month motion
was published on the Notice Paper today, which is the first step that
must be taken before the motion can be introduced in the House of
Commons and then brought to a vote. It is expected that the motion
will be formally introduced in the House of Commons next week by
Mr. Butt. It is also expected that other Members of Parliament will
speak in favour of the motion at that time. It is not yet clear when
the motion would be approved.

The Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month motion
recalls that Canada has officially recognized four genocides (the
Holocaust, the Holodomor, the Rwandan Tutsi Genocide and the Armenian
Genocide) and that three of these genocides have a memorial day
in April, so it is appropriate to designate April of each year as
Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month. The ANCC
notes that the designation of April 24 of each year as Armenian
Genocide Memorial Day in this motion is the first time that any
Canadian federal government body has formally recognized April 24 as
Armenian Genocide Memorial Day.