Last Tuesday, June 7, 2011, His Excellency John C. Sloan, Ambassador to the Russian Federation, with concurrent accreditation to the Republic of Armenia visited the Canadian Armenian Diocese and met with His Eminence Bagrat Galstanian, Primate. The Ambassador and His Eminence briefly discussed issues related to the bilateral affairs between Canada and Armenia. Also in attendance were the assistant of Ambassador Sloan, Ms. Karine Bernier, and the Director of the Governmental Relations Office, Dn. Hagop Arslanian.

Immediately following, Ambassador Sloan met the representatives of the Canadian-Armenian community at the reception hall of the Diocese in Outremont. His Eminence greeted and thanked the Ambassador for taking time from his schedule to meet with community representatives. Mr. Harout Chitilian, member of the Montreal City Council, was present to welcome and wish Ambassador Sloan success in all his endeavors.

Community representatives had the opportunity to dialogue with His Excellency on a wide range of issues. The topics of interest included the establishment of a Canadian Embassy in Yerevan, Consular services rendered to the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, trade and commercial relations between Canada and Armenia, and the issue of Nagorno Karabagh. The attendees expressed their hope and faith that the potential for present and future prospects will be fully realized in the areas of economy, trade, culture, and local governance.

Ambassador Sloan thanked Primate Galstanian for organizing and hosting the event. He expressed his intention to further contribute to strengthening Canada-Armenia trade and economic relations, which he saw as having great potential for dynamic development. He promised to follow up on some of the issues raised by community members, emphasising the importance of the Canadian-Armenian community in deepening Canada-Armenia relations.

Note that the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to the Republic of Armenia John Sloan had presented his credentials to President Serzh Sargsyan on November 2, 2010.