Surveillance of journalists and court orders puts Canada’s press freedom at risk

February 3, 2017 By administrator

By Alexandra Ellerbeck/CPJ Americas Research Associate

On February 6, VICE News reporter Ben Makuch is due to appear in court to appeal an order requesting that he hand over details of his communication with a source. The hearing comes ahead of a day of action being planned in Canada for February 25, when press freedom and privacy activists are due to lobby the government over issues including surveillance powers and an anti-terrorism bill.
As well as the legal action against Makuch, news outlets reported in 2016 that police had issued warrants to spy on at least eight journalists, checked phone records to see if officers had been in contact with journalists, and seized a journalist’s laptop. Authorities also called for increased police surveillance powers and criticized encryption for hampering police work.

Source: https://www.cpj.org/blog/2017/02/surveillance-of-journalists-and-court-orders-puts-.php

Armenia to launch direct flights to Canada, Singapore

January 26, 2017 By administrator

Armenia will launch direct flights to Canada and Singapore, the government approved the signing of corresponding documents on Thursday, January 26.

Introducing the proposal to the government was chief of the General Department of Civil Aviation Sergey Avetisyan, who said a legal basis for the implementation of the decisions must now be provided.

According to Avetisyan, relations between Armenia and Canada or Singapore in the air transportation field are not regulated by intergovernmental agreements.

Avetisyan said the deals will boost the development of tourism and trade ties between Armenia and each of the abovementioned countries.

Syrian Armenian Refugees and their sponsors celebrate a year of ‘prosperity’ in Canada

January 9, 2017 By administrator

By Denise Ryan, Vancouver Sun,

With their two sons serving as altar boys, and eight-year-old daughter Varti flying around the church hall in a red dress, Syrian refugees Ara and Sousan Strak celebrated their first year in Canada at St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church in Richmond on Sunday.

The family arrived in Canada last January and their one-year anniversary coincided with the celebration of Armenian Christmas on Jan. 6.

As the families arrived at church Sunday, the priests swung the traditional incense, and chanted the liturgy in the church. Downstairs, volunteers cooked a celebratory lunch in the community kitchen, filling the hall with the scent of fresh baked bread.

The Strak family is among the 140 ethnic Armenian refugees from Syria who were sponsored by the church after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made good on his promise to fast track 10,000 refugees last year.

Varti has become the family’s unofficial spokesperson, fielding interviews for multiple media outlets. Her favourite part of Canada is school, she said shyly, in a voice that is almost accent-free. She misses her friends in Aleppo, but she is making new friends here.

The family has come a long way since fleeing Aleppo in 2014. “In Aleppo our children don’t sleep, they don’t go to school,” said Ara. After ISIS bombs struck their apartment building, killing a neighbour and making their home uninhabitable, Ara and Sousan made the difficult decision to leave the country that had first taken their forebears as refugees after the 1915 Armenian genocide.

“Nothing is more important than the security of the family,” said Ara, who left behind an automotive business. Once in Lebanon, the family realized that returning to Aleppo was out of the question. They would have to seek a new life. They applied to come to Canada.

Ara Strak (left), his wife Sousan and daughter Varti pose for a photo at St. Gregory Armenian Church in Richmond on Sunday. The Strak family are ethnic Armenians who were among the 140 Syrian refugees sponsored by the church one year ago.Vikin Kovjian, an ethnic Armenian from Syria who immigrated to Canada as a skilled worker in 2012, worked with the St. Gregory congregants to match sponsors with families, bringing 140 people to their community. A year later, Kovjian says he is overwhelmed not just by the generosity of the local community, but by the energy and enthusiasm the refugee families have brought with them.

“The levels these families have reached has exceeded all of our expectations,” said Kovjian. “The children are doing well in school, the parents are working and many of them are moving along in the process of having their professional credentials recognized.”

What was unexpected, said Kovjian, is just how much the refugee families have given back. “We have more people to contribute to the community — it has brought a new prosperity to us,” said Kovjian.

Ara landed work in an automotive supply warehouse just 12 days after arriving. A few months later he moved to a higher-paying job with Lugaro, a gem and jewelry company run by Vahe Agopian, a member of the Armenian National Committee of Canada. Sousan is still looking for work in her field as an accountant, and the whole family is squeezed into a tiny apartment, but they have no complaints.

“We are here, we are safe and we wish to say thank you to the Canadian government, to the Canadian people for giving us the chance to start again,” said Ara.

Ara and Sousan said they have been touched by the kindness of all Canadians, from strangers on the bus to staff at local community centres. “We feel like we are part of a beautiful mosaic,” said Ara. “We hope in the future the government will give others this same chance they gave us.”

Vahe Andonian, chairman of the western region of the Armenian National Committee, said the group is open to sponsoring more Syrian refugee families of all backgrounds. “Many families, including Muslim families, have reached out,” said Andonian.

Anyone who wishes to donate to the committee’s efforts can go to syriahelp.ca.

Yerevan: Family moved from Canada to Armenia: Our dream came true

January 4, 2017 By administrator

YEREVAN. – Tamara Kabasakalian, her husband and two small children moved to Armenia from Canada five years ago. The family which has no relatives in Armenia, has been dreaming of returning to their historical homeland since 2000. The older generation of the family was born in Canada and visited Armenia only several times.

“I visited Armenia four times, first in 1989. Then I fell in love with Armenia. I arrived with my husband in 2001. Returning to Canada, I kept saying that that I will move to Armenia once. It was a dream and actually I had no idea that this day would come true. Then all our family visited two more times and baptized children here. The decision to move to Armenia was accepted quickly. In October, 2010 we made a decision and arrived in Yerevan in June, 2011. Our friends were surprised, relatives were saying that our dream came true,” Tamara said.

According to her, she and her husband had good jobs in Canada, a house, a car – everything that is necessary for welfare of the family with two children: “But we decided to tie the future of our children with Armenia.”

As 43- year-old Tamara claims, Armenia is safe, one can take children to theater every day. Everything is expensive in Canada and the Armenian theater comes there once in four or six months.

“Difficulties are everywhere and we decided to overcome them here. At first there were concerns connected with employment, integration, education of children, medical care. But now, when children ask, if we want to return to Canada, we give a negative answer unambiguously,” Tamara said.

in five years, the family had to overcome many difficulties and now Tamara speaks about them with a smile. According to her, difficulties hardened them.

“If we stayed in Canada, we would not gain such experience,” Tamara jokes.

Teacher by profession, Tamara deals with human rights protection, social services, education, and medical care, assistance for disabled and elderly people in Armenia. Tamara makes contribution to development of Armenia by means of training center where she teaches English and French by a new technique.

Asked what she would like to bring from Canada to Armenia, Tamara thought a little and then named two things: rule of law and desire to study.

Canada urged to call Baku to account for destroying Armenian heritage

December 9, 2016 By administrator

The Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) is marking the 11th anniversary of Azerbaijan’s destruction of the historic Armenian cemetery of Djulfa by calling on the Canadian government to hold Azerbaijan accountable for the systematic destruction of Armenian historical, cultural and religious sites and monuments, the ANCC said in a statement.

On December 10, 2005, the government of Azerbaijan began the final demolition of the historic Armenian cemetery in Djulfa, an ancient Armenian city now located in Azerbaijan. This marked the final blow to the 10,000 intricately hand carved khachkars (stone crosses) which were erected between the 6th through the 17th centuries. Khachkars are a uniquely Armenian form of stone carving which UNESCO has recognized as being both culturally and religiously significant to the Armenian people and constituting part of humanity’s shared intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding.

By December 15, 2005, the final destruction was complete. Approximately 200 Azerbaijani soldiers gathered at the Nakhichevan-Iran border to desecrate the remaining grave markers at the Djulfa Armenian cemetery. The cemetery has since been replaced with an Azerbaijani military training base.

Despite clear evidence and condemnation by international bodies such as the European Parliament and International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), Azerbaijani authorities continue to deny this crime, while still promoting the destruction of all Armenian religious and cultural sites in the country.

Shahen Mirakian, President of the ANCC stated “The Armenian monuments represent unique architectural value and the international community should be aware of the policy of their destruction that can only be defined as cultural genocide.”

Mirakian called upon the Canadian government to exert the necessary pressure on the Azerbaijani government to end this campaign. “The annihilation of the civilization of a people is incompatible with any country aspiring to become an honest broker for peace, justice and equality around the world. Azerbaijan cannot be regarded as such, until it faces its own history, and respects the rights and freedoms of other nations” said Mirakian.

Canada: Saving the children: Sarah Corning and the #ArmenianGenocide

November 1, 2016 By administrator

By Staff, The Vanguard,
YARMOUTH, N.S. – When she was born in North Chegoggin, Nova Scotia, in 1872, no one would have predicted Sarah* Corning would one day be presented as a hero to the King of Greece.
In 1922, Corning was instrumental in the evacuation of Armenian and Greek orphans from the besieged city of Smyrna in what is now Turkey. Today, the extent of the atrocities visited upon the Armenian community after the First World War is acknowledged as an act of genocide.

Corning trained as a nurse in the United States and joined the American Red Cross during the First World War.

In December 1917, she was amongst the first to volunteer to tend the sick and suffering after the Halifax Explosion.

Shortly after the First World War, as part of Near East Relief – an American organization helping displaced people of the Balkans, Asia Minor and the Middle East – Corning went overseas.

In 1921, working for a relief agency, Corning arrived in a small village at the foot of Mount Ararat in what is now Turkey to take charge of an orphanage. The following year she was in the city of Smyrna, which the Turks were trying to take back from Greece. Corning was part of a team that opened a clinic to help Smyrna’s sick and wounded, but it was shut down by Turkish soldiers. A second clinic also was shut down.

In 1922, as fighting and lawlessness escalated, Corning became a central figure in the evacuation of the port city of Smyrna, helping guide orphans in a home run by an American nurse, eventually guiding thousands of children to the harbour, where U.S. sailors rowed them out to the safety of naval vessels, the Vanguard reported this year.

After the rescue, she helped established an orphanage in Greece for the stateless orphans.

She was summoned to Athens in June 1923, where King George II of Greece awarded her and others involved in the rescue mission, the Silver Cross Medal of the Order of the Saviour, an honour comparable to the Order of Canada.

Corning worked at the orphanage until 1924, when she returned to Turkey to work in a residential training school until 1930 when the Near East relief effort was disbanded.

Upon retirement, she returned to Chegoggin, where she lived until her death in 1969 at age 97.

The epitaph on her headstone in the Chegoggin Baptist Church Cemetery reads: “She lived to serve others.”

Writer/author Sandra Phinney told the Vanguard earlier in 2016 that Corning’s story pulled at her

“Imagine a rural teenager from Yarmouth in the late 1800s going to the US to become a nurse, then helping out in the Halifax explosion, then being a nurse in a foreign land and doing so much to help people, at great personal risk,” Phinney said.

“Her courage was monumental at many levels, and Canadians need to hear about Sara,” she added.”

Only recently has Corning’s work been recognized at home in Yarmouth County. In September, a seniors’ care home named part of its facility for the nurse from rural Nova Scotia.

“We were intrigued and in awe of her heroic role in rescuing 5,000 Armenian and Greek orphans from near-certain death,” Randy Saulnier, vice-chairman of the Villa Saint-Joseph board said at a ceremony in September.

Corning is recognized elsewhere, too. There is a Sara Corning Centre for Genocide Education in Toronto that supports research and education on the topics of human rights and genocide.

*Corning’s name is spelled both Sarah and Sara in different documents. However, her birth record uses Sarah.

Editor’s note: Material in this article originally appeared on TheVanguard.ca in May 2016 in Local heroine Sara Corning subject of talks at library and historical society, in April 2016 as People urged to vote for Yarmouth First World War nurse Sara Corning to grace currency, by Carla Allen and September 2016’s Sarah Corning remembered and honoured at Villa Saint-Joseph, by Eric Bourque.

Source: http://www.thevanguard.ca/Living/2016-10-31/article-4676033/Saving-the-children%3A-Sarah-Corning-and-the-Armenian-genocide/1

Armenian Genocide Memorial ‘Forest of Hope’ Unveiled in Canada

September 26, 2016 By administrator

armenian-memorial-canada MARKHAM, Canada—The unveiling of the Armenian Genocide Forest of Hope took place on Sept. 24 in the City of Markham. Markham Mayor, His Worship Mr. Frank Scarpitti was joined by the Ambassador of Armenia to Canada, H.E. Mr. Armen Yeganian, as well as the Chairs of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committees of Canada and Ontario Mr. Mher Karakashian and Mr. Krikor Chitlian for the official ribbon cutting ceremony.

Amongst the more than 600 attendees from across the Greater Toronto Area, were representatives from all levels of government. Representing the Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honorable Justin Trudeau, was Member of Parliament and Chair of the Canadian Armenian Parliamentary Friendship Group, Arnold Chan. Representing the Premier of Ontario, the Honorable Kathleen Wynne, were the Honorable Dr. Helena Jaczek, Minister of Community and Social Services and Honorable Michael Chan, Minister of International Trade.

Dr. Jaczek presented the Premier’s message on this memorable occasion, which can be read below.

From the City of Markham, Markham Deputy Mayor Jack Heath, York Regional Councillor Joe Li, and Markham City Councillors Alan Ho, Logan Kanapathi, and Amanda Colluci joined Mayor Scarpitti.

“We know the meaning of genocide, its history and the importance of education,” said Armen Yeganian, ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to Canada. “We have to continue to educate, not just today, tomorrow or the first 100 years. But always, because unfortunately it still continues to happen.”

The Forest of Hope Project was launched by the City of Markham on Dec. 19 2015, on the occasion of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, which was commemorated throughout 2015.

“Despite being displaced, the Armenian community is determined,” said Mayor Scarpitti. “The next generation of Armenians will be just as proud as the first Armenians who came to Canada. That’s a wonderful thing.”

The project involved planting a small forest in the confines of the Ashton Meadows Park, in memory of the 1.5 million victims of this first genocide of the 20th century. The forest will serve as a permanent reminder of this dark period of human history and will remind us of our collective responsibility to ensure such crimes are never repeated again. The specially designed forest, designed by renowned landscape architect Haig Seferian, will feature 100 trees of varying species, to celebrate the survival and rebirth of humanity from the ashes of Genocide.

Marianne Davitjan, who presented the Armenian National Committee of Canada’s message, outlined the importance of memorials such as the Forest of Hope. “The places in present day Turkey and Syria, where the Armenian Genocide took place, had the potential to serve as sites of memory and education, much like how the concentration camps in Europe served for the Holocaust,” she explained. “Due to denial and continued violence however, those sites have been destroyed and forgotten. Hence why it is important for Armenians around the world to build genocide memorials in their home cities, in order to promote collective commemoration and education.”

Source: http://armenianweekly.com/2016/09/26/forest-of-hope/

Canada, “The Promise” World Premiere at Toronto Film Festival #ArmenianGenocide

August 21, 2016 By administrator

The world premiere of the film “The Promise”, the theme of the Armenian Genocide produced by Company Pictures Survival of the late Kirk Kerkorian will take place at Toronto International Film Festival film in September.

The festival also announced that the film “The Promise” will be presented at a gala opening weekend on September 11th.

The film, which was directed by Terry George the award-winning director of the film “Hotel Rwanda” has headliners Oscar Issac, Christian Bale and Charlotte Le Bon.

“Michael, a humble Armenian apothecary, leaves her village to study medicine in the cosmopolitan city of Constantinople. Chris, an American photojournalist who came into the country to cover part geopolitics, is related to Ana, an Armenian artist educated in Paris. When Michael meets Ana, heritage creates an attraction that leads to a love rivalry between the two men. After the Turks have joined the war on the German side, the Ottoman Empire turned violently against its own ethnic minorities. Despite the conflict, everyone has to find a way to survive – even when monumental events affecting their lives, “the synopsis of the film on the website of TIIF.

Sources said the film “The Promise” will be in theaters in December.

Terry George, who was nominated for an Oscar for best director for “Hotel Rwanda,” co-wrote “The Promise” with another Oscar-nominated screenwriter Robin Swicord. In March 2013, George was the guest of the State Pedagogical University of Armenia, where the Irish filmmaker compared the Armenian genocide in 1994 Rwandan genocide.

The shooting of the film, which also depicts, Charlotte Le Bon, James Cromwell, Marwan Kenzari, Jean Reno, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Angela Sarafyan, among others, ended in Europe last fall and is in post-production.

After the last shot vued u film was produced, co-manager of Survival Pictures and producer of the film, Eric Esrailian described to Asbarez newspaper an email in which he said that “Kirk would be proud,” referring to Kirk Kerkorian died June 16, 2015 in Los Angeles. “It makes all that hard work even more special.”

Lockheed Threatens Economic Harm to Canada for Refusing to Buy F-35

June 16, 2016 By administrator

The defense contractor attempted to extort one of the most powerful sovereign countries in the world, warning that as many as 10,000 jobs would be lost if the country did not commit to purchasing a fighter jet that ‘does not work.’

This weekend, American defense contractor Lockheed Martin threatened to exclude Canadian companies from production of the much maligned F-35 fighter jet if the Trudeau government decides to instead purchase a fleet of Boeing’s Super Hornet fighter jets.

“The F-35 does not work and is far from working,” said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a June 7 parliamentary debate, blasting the fighter jet that has cost the Pentagon over $1.5 trillion. Despite this exorbitant price tag, the jet continues to spontaneously shut down mid-flight due to software glitches.

The fighter jet that cost US taxpayers more than the gross domestic product of Canada will not face an initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) until mid-2018, according to Pentagon reports. Due to this delay, Lockheed Martin will not complete production of a full fleet of F-35s until 2019 at the earliest and the aircraft may not be combat ready until nearly 2021.

Lockheed Martin attempted to mislead the public about the fiscal and battlefield realities surrounding the costly warplane, conducting a publicity tour across Canadian TV over the weekend to threaten the country’s people with economic reprisals amounting to several hundred million dollars and nearly 10,000 jobs.

“I don’t want it perceived as a threat, but we will have no choice: If Canada walks away from F-35, expect to relocate work in Canada to other purchasing nations,” Steve Over, Lockheed’s director of F-35 internal business told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Canadian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Jordan Owens blasted the defense firm’s flagrant attempt at intimidation, maintaining that the government will decide on a fighter jet based on security needs.

“Despite Lockheed’s eagerness to send a spokesperson from Texas to Ottawa in order to game out hypothetical scenarios in the media, Canada remains a member of the Joint Strike Fighter program,” said Owens.

The Joint Strike Fighter program is a development and acquisition alliance of the US, UK, Turkey, Italy, Australia, the Netherlands and Canada, under which the member states selected the F-35 Lightning II to replace various tactical aircraft.

The program has brought $610 million in contracts to Canadian defense contractors, but Ottawa argues that the JSF agreement does not tie them irrevocably to the F-35 in order to receive program benefits.

“According to the agreement, as long as Canada remains a JSF partner it is fully entitled to have its industry bid and get contracts,” said Alan Williams, the former assistant deputy minister at Canada’s Department of National Defense. “There is no stipulation that Canada has to purchase the F-35.”

Williams returned the threat to Lockheed Martin saying that any attempts to disenfranchise Canadian firms while the country remains a JSF partner and contributes its payments into the effort will result in immediate legal action against the defense contracting firm.

Iran, Canada start talks to renew ties

June 11, 2016 By administrator

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion has confirmed to CBC News that preliminary contact has been made.
In 2012, the Harper administration cut ties with Tehran and expelled Iranian diplomats from Canada.
“Talks have started, yes, at the official level,” Dion said Friday. There has been speculation the discussions took place in New York City, where the two countries have political delegations.
“I will not comment,” the foreign minister said when asked about a possible location. “But the usual way by which countries who want to recreate links proceed, is step by step, at the official level in neutral territory.”