Madam Speaker, it is my great pleasure this evening to have an opportunity to address Motion No. 328 that is before parliament.
I wish to thank the member for Laval Centre for bringing forward this motion.
I am very pleased on behalf of my caucus and of my party to speak solidly in support of this motion, which reads:
That this House recognize the Armenian genocide of 1915 and condemn this act as a crime against humanity.
This motion is jointly supported by the member for Burnaby--Douglas, the NDP foreign affairs critic.
Canada has an obligation to recognize the Armenian genocide not just as a calamity or a tragedy but as a genocide. I was stunned to hear the Liberal member who spoke to the motion this evening repeatedly referring to the Armenian genocide as an event. It is past time we recognized the Armenian genocide for what it was: a genocide. Let us not hear any more euphemisms.
Over 1.5 million Armenians were murdered in the genocide which took place between 1915 and 1923. Barbaric acts took place during this period. Mass murders were committed in Constantinople or, as we know it today, Istanbul. There were unwarranted arrests and wrongful imprisonments. There were massive deportations of the civilian population, rapes, abductions and forced religious conversions.
The Armenian genocide was the first genocide of the 20th century and sadly not the last. Since then we have witnessed genocide in other parts of the world: the Nazi Holocaust of World War II, the genocides in East Timor, Rwanda, Cambodia and elsewhere. It is only by acknowledging the wrongs of the past and understanding our history that we will avoid such horrors in the future.
Sadly Canada has yet to officially recognize the Armenian genocide even though the United Nations did so 53 years ago as far back as 1948.
New Democrats have been pleased to work side by side with the Armenian community to seek this recognition. We are proud to continue to do so but it is heartbreaking. It is unacceptable that Armenian Canadians continue to have to plead with the Liberal government for recognition of the genocide yet only by doing so will people be able to get on with the healing.
I have met with representatives of the Armenian genocide community. I did so when they were here again this year on April 24, the day we have set aside to commemorate the Armenian genocide. They told stories. Several among them were orphaned and raised by people not known to them who took them into their care because they had lost their parents and grandparents.
I was pleased to be interviewed on the Horizons television program in Toronto about the continuing struggle to gain official recognition of the Armenian genocide by the Government of Canada. It is wrong for that community to have to continue putting its case to the government. It is time we corrected that wrong.
I was pleased earlier today to hear that the Minister of Veterans Affairs has finally announced compensation for the 15 surviving Buchenwald vets. This was long overdue. These gentlemen are aging rapidly. Thank goodness the government has finally seen fit to acknowledge the horrifying situation the Buchenwald vets faced. It is time to do the same and recognize the Armenian genocide for what it was.
Earlier this year the member for Burnaby--Douglas asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs a straightforward question. He asked if the Liberal government would finally stand and officially recognize the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 as genocide. What answer did the Minister of Foreign Affairs give? He gave an insulting non-answer. He insulted the entire Canadian Armenian community.
I am currently circulating a petition on the issue which I intend to table in the near future, a petition that calls upon parliament to, first, officially acknowledge the Armenian genocide; second, condemn all attempts to negate the genocide in accordance with the United Nations convention for the prevention and repression of genocide; third, to designate April 24 as the day of annual commemoration of the Armenian genocide; fourth, to press the government of Turkey to acknowledge and recognize the genocide; and, fifth, to help develop understanding, heal wounds and move forward the process of reconciliation among all Canadians about this tragedy in accordance with the Canadian tradition of promoting human rights, peace and the rule of law in international affairs.
This year commemorates the 1,700th anniversary of the Armenian church. We celebrate the Armenian people's rich cultural and religious history. It would be entirely appropriate in this anniversary year to finally recognize this genocide.
I was recently given a book of essays and poems entitled The Armenian Genocide: Resisting the Inertia of Indifference . I think what we see from the government is exactly that, the inertia of indifference. This book was written by Lorne Shirinian and Alan Whitehorn. Let me quote briefly from a poem contained in the book, “Remembering Genocide”:
We must remember. Remember and learn. Remember and tell. But also remember and live. And some day, remember and forgive.
Tonight I call on the House to heed those words.
In closing, I seek the unanimous consent of the House to make this motion votable, so that it is clear that as a House we remember the Armenian people, and we acknowledge this genocide and will not forget it.