On May 6, 2015, His Grace Bishop Abgar Hovakimian, Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church Canadian Diocese, on behalf of the clergy and the thousands of faithful members of the Church across Canada, expressed profound appreciation to the Honourable Andrew Scheer, Speaker of the House of Commons, for unanimous adoption of the Motion M-587 ‘Genocide Recognition’ on the 24th of April, the exact Centennial anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. In another letter addressed to MP Brad Butt the Primate expressed profound appreciation for the honourable initiative he has taken to introduce the Motion M-587.
In his letters, the Primate mentioned that the genocide against Armenians in 1915 was a crime against the entire humanity and Canada by taking this commendable position has once more demonstrated its being over the years, consistently a staunch defender and promoter of human rights. As April 24 will thus be defined as the Armenian Genocide Memorial Day in Canada, along with commemorative days for all other genocides, through this noble action, the House of Commons will have contributed in its own important way to the prevention of such inhuman acts against other communities in our world. Canada thus offers once more a perfect example to be followed by other nations of the civilized world in order to promote respect and protection of human rights everywhere and for all human beings.
The Primate highlighted the Canadian Armenians’ deep involvement in a multitude of major manifestations on this historic occasion and invited honourable elected officials to visit the Diocesan headquarters.
