Evaluation of Canada’s Membership in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance

Appendix A: Timeline of key events

1998

  • ITF founded in Stockholm by former Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson; Sweden, the US and the UK were the initial members; Germany and Israel joined later that year

2000

  • January 27-29: 46 governments unanimously adopted the Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust (ITF)

2004

  • Canada requests observer status at the ITF

2006

  • November: The Government decided that Canada should move towards full membership in the ITF; Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity given the mandate to seek membership in the ITF by Prime Minister Stephen Harper
  • December: Canada’s Ambassador to Hungary attended the December 2006 ITF Plenary under the Hungarian Chairmanship to initiate contact with the ITF concerning the application procedure

2007

  • June: Canada’s formal application for membership in the ITF presented by the Honourable Jason Kenney, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity) at the June 2007 ITF Plenary

2008

  • October 30: Responsibility for Multiculturalism Program transferred from Heritage to Citizenship and Immigration

2009

  • February: Delegation of 11 Canadian Parliamentarians attended the inaugural Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Anti-Semitism (ICCA) conference in London
  • June 1-2: Canada hosted a conference with partners from the United States and France (our Liaison countries) entitled “The M.S. St. Louis Era: Looking Back, Moving Forward which brought together government officials, academics, educators and civil society
  • June 24: Canada became the 27th member of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (ITF)

2010

  • February: Approval for the Assessed Contribution to the Task Force for International cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research beginning in 2009-10 fiscal year
  • November 7-9: Canada hosted the second ICCA Conference in Ottawa; the Ottawa Protocol was ratified

2011

  • January 20: Wheel of Conscience monument to commemorate the M.S. St. Louis unveiled at Pier 21
  • March 25: National Holocaust Monument Act received royal assent
  • July 8: Minister Kenney issued a statement on the release of the report of the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism released
  • September 19: Minister Kenney signed the Ottawa Protocol
  • December 1: Canada confirmed as the 2013 Chair at ITF meeting in The Hague
  • December 13: Mario Silva appointed Canadian Chair

2012

  • March 6: Canada joined the Troika as future Chair at a ceremony in Berlin
  • May 23: Names of the members of the Advisory Council for the ITF announced
  • December 10-13: The ITF changed its name to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) at a Plenary in Liège, Belgium

2013

  • January 27: CIC launched an Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education open to Canadian teachers
  • February: Office of Religious Freedom announced
  • March 5: Handover ceremony for the Chairmanship of the IHRA in Berlin
  • March 13: New CIC website (Canada and the Holocaust) launched
  • April 24: “If Not Now, When? Responsibility and Memory after the Holocaust” Conference at the Max and Tessie Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish Studies, Carleton University, funded by CIC; $200K Canadian Heritage funding for art provenance research announced
  • June: IHRA meetings in Berlin
  • October 6-7: Academic Conference (New Scholars, New Research on the Holocaust) at the University of Toronto
  • October 5-10: IHRA meeting in Toronto
  • October 9: Winner of Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education announced

2014

  • February 25: United Kingdom took over as chair of the IHRA
  • February 25: Dr. Andrew Bennett, Canada's Ambassador for Religious Freedom, appointed Canada's new Head of Delegation to the IHRA

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