Sarkis Assadourian

[Israeli Election, June 3rd, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to congratulate Benjamin Netanyahu on his election as Prime Minister of Israel.

I am encouraged by the statement made by the Prime Minister that he will continue to pursue the peace process initiated by his predecessor. He stated: "Let us go in the way of peace. Let us go in the way of security for everyone, for all the nations in the region".

I urge the Government of Canada to convey our strong desire for a continuation of the peace process, and I urge hon. members of the House to write to the new Prime Minister of Israel to encourage him to build a lasting peace for Israel and for the Middle East.

[Canadian Human Rights Act, May 8th, 1996]

Madam Speaker, Motion No. 10 is in the name of the hon. member for Edmonton Southwest and he is not here. Can we accept his motion?

[Diabetes, May 1st, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to draw attention to the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the discovery of insulin by the team of Canadian researchers Banting, Best, Macleod and Collip.

The discovery of insulin ranks as one of the medical world's greatest achievements. Previous to the discovery of insulin in the summer of 1921, hundreds of thousands of sufferers of diabetes faced almost certain death from the disease.

Insulin however is not a cure for diabetes but rather only an effective treatment for a disease that affects over 1.5 million Canadians annually.

Research into the cure of diabetes continues. I urge all Canadians to support the work of the Canadian Diabetes Association and give generously to this cause.

[Canada Elections Act, April 26th, 1996]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-276, an act to amend the Canada Elections Act (registration of political parties).

Mr. Speaker, the purpose of the bill is to amend the Canada Elections Act to allow the registration of political parties by the chief electoral officer only when the party nominates candidates in at least seven provinces that have in aggregate at least 50 per cent of the population of all the provinces and in at least half of the electoral districts in each of those seven provinces.

For the purpose of the Canada Elections Act, the provinces include the Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

There are four principal aims of this bill. First is to ensure that those parties entering into federal elections are nominating candidates in a majority of ridings across Canada so that their support and point of view will be national in scope. Second is to ensure that each party provides a platform which is reflective of national interests and not of regional scope. Third is to provide greater access to the majority of Canadians to pass judgment via a national convention or a general election on a party's political platform. Fourth is the aim to keep Canada as one, united and indivisible.

I ask all members of the House to support my private member's bill.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)

[Armenian Genocide, April 24th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the Armenian genocide of 1915.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of Parliament who participated in yesterday's debate in the House and to congratulate them on passing the historic motion which reads:

That this House recognize on the occasion of the 81st anniversary of the Armenian tragedy which claimed some 1.5 million lives that took place on April 24, 1915, and in recognition of other crimes against humanity, the week of April 20 to 27 of each year as the week of remembrance of the inhumanity of people towards one another.

Canadians thank their MPs for this motion. It is a giant step forward toward recognition that the use of genocide and violence as instruments of national policy by any nation or any group at any time is a crime against humanity and must be condemned.

[Supply, April 23rd, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I am voting with the government.

[Supply, April 23rd, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I take this opportunity to thank those who participated in this debate. It is the first time this issue has been debated in Canadian history.

I also want to thank the parties involved, in this case the Bloc Quebecois, the Reform Party and the Liberal Party. I regret that the NDP and the Progressive Conservative Party did not participate in the debate.

I think it is incumbent on all of us to stand for one moment of silence for the victims of genocide.

[Supply, April 23rd, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask a question of the hon. member for Scarborough-Rouge River. I also want to ask the same question of my colleague from the Bloc Quebecois. It is with regard to what is taught in school regarding the history of genocide and the holocaust.

Before I do that, I want to make a statement. Since 1965, or 31 years, I have been involved with this issue. This is the first time we have had seven hours debate and the word "alleged" has not been used. I give credit to this House and members of Parliament for not using the word "alleged" in the discussions we have had so for.

I want to make the point that nobody has ever denied the fact that 1.5 million innocent people perished in 1915 during the first world war as the first genocide of the century.

I am quite sure that Armenians in this country and all over the world are prepared to do as the Jewish people did after the holocaust. Once this issue is addressed by the Turkish government they are prepared to forgive what happened but never to forget what happened. Once you forget it will be repeated again. I hope this debate will focus attention on the fact that the victims these days are prepared to forgive if they are asked but they will not forget. Once we forget we repeat it again in the future.

I go back to the first point I made. Would the hon. member encourage including the subject of genocide, or crimes against humanity, or however it is described, a tragic event, massacres, as part of the school curriculum so the younger generations can be taught in the high schools what happened? Awareness is the key. Once they are aware of what happened in history hopefully they will not repeat it because that is where the problem is. Once it happens it repeats itself over and over again.

[Supply, April 23rd, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to see the Leader of the Opposition grandstanding on this very important human rights issue.

I asked on three previous occasions if members of the Bloc Quebecois would undertake to write to their former leader, the premier of Quebec, Lucien Bouchard, and ask him to replace the monument which was reneged on by the mayor of Montreal after it was promised to the Armenian people and after he received their votes.

Would he write a letter to the premier of Quebec, since he is so anxious to help build bridges between the Parti Quebecois, the Bloc Quebecois and minorities, ethnics and those who have the money? Would he undertake in this House on behalf of his party to ask the premier of Quebec to build a monument in Quebec City or Montreal in memory of the 1.5 million Armenians who died in the first genocide of this century?

[Supply, April 23rd, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I fully express support on this motion of course. Will the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs agree with me that because of the geographic location of Turkey and Armenia, adjacent to one another, practically neighbours, it would be better for Turkey to address this issue once and for all and have a good friendly relationship with Armenia for the future? This is a stumbling block for developing a good relationship in the region.

Would the parliamentary secretary agree with me that if Turkey accepts responsibility it would enhance the relationship between Armenia and Turkey so they can go forward building the Armenian republic again?