THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA RECOGNISES THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Armenian National Committee of Canada press release - April 3, 2006 -
Ottawa - The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia unanimously
adopted a Private Member's Motion 59, recognising the Armenian Genocide
and to designate April 24th of every year as a remembrance day for the
1.5 million Armenians who fell victim to the first genocide of the 20th
Century.
The debate on the Motion, which was
sponsored by Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Adrian Dix
(Vancouver-Kingsway), commenced at 11:00 p.m. and was voted upon at the
end of the allotted one hour according to Private Member's Motion rules.
MLAs Adrian Dix (Vancouver-Kingsway),
Rob Fleming (Victoria-Hillside), Randy Hawes (Maple Ridge-Mission), Dave
S. Hayer (Surrey-Tynehead), John Horgan (Malahat-Juan De Fuca), Murine
Karagianis (Esquimalt-Metchosin), Leonared Krog (Naniamo), Kevin Krueger
(Kamloops-North Thompson), John Nuraney (Burnaby-Wellingdon), Micheal
Sather (Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadows), and John Yap (Richmond-Stevenston)
spoke in support of the Motion.
Since last August The Armenian
National Committee of Canada (ANCC), The Armenian National Committee of
Canada - West (ANCCW), and The Armenian National Committee of Vancouver
(ANCV), have worked closely with the MLAs Dix, Hawes, Sather, and Hayer
to build non-partisan support for Motion 59. The ANCC, ANCCW and ANCV
delegates had numerous meetings with various MLAs to brief them on the
Motion's importance as a universal human rights issue. In addition, the
delegates presented historical overview of the Genocide and supporting
documents.
The executive director of The
Armenian National Committee of Canada Aris Babikian, on behalf of the
Canadian-Armenian community, thanked MLAs Adrian Dix and Randy Hawes for
their leadership ro le in the successful adoption of the Motion.
Furthermore, Mr. Babikian thanked members who spoke in favour of the
Motion and the members who voted to adopt it.
Mr. Babikian said: "This is a
historic day for our community in Canada and in British Columbia. The
steadfast support and the unanimous vote of the MLAs demonstrates once
again that the Turkish Government's denial policy and rewriting of
history will not succeed. We call upon the Turkish Government to be
constructive, to come to terms with its dark history and to acknowledge
its predecessors' guilt and extend a hand of atonement and
reconciliation to the Armenian People."
The text of Motion 59 is as follows:
Be it resolved that this House recognise the genocide of the Armenians
as a crime against humanity. Be it further resolved that this House urge
the BC government to designate April 24th of every year hereafter
throughout BC as a day of remembrance for the 1.5 million Armenians who
fell victim to the first genocide of the 20th Century.
