August 1, 2014 — Ottawa — Jason Kenney, Canada’s Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism, has completed a successful visit to the Republic of Armenia. He is the first Canadian minister to have visited the country since 2002.
The Minister – who completed his three-day trip yesterday – had a ninety-minute meeting with President Serzh Sargsyan, discussing issues such as trade and investment, the Armenian Genocide, Canada’s support of efforts by Armenia and Turkey to seek a path towards reconciliation, Armenian & Canadian support for refugees from violent persecution in Syria and Iraq, the crisis in Ukraine and alignment by the international community in its response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, and the successful role of Canada's Armenian community.
Minister Kenney discussed these and other issues with Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan, Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandyan, Diaspora Affairs Minister Hranush Hakobyan, and National Assembly President Galust Sahakyan.
In 2013, Canadian trade with Armenia totalled more than $100 million. During the visit, on which he was accompanied by several members of the Canadian Armenian community, Minister Kenney met with Canadian companies investing in Armenia and Armenian business leaders to discuss strategies for increasing bilateral trade and investment.
Minister Kenney laid a wreath at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in memory of the victims of what the Senate of Canada has recognized as "the first genocide of the Twentieth Century" and the House of Commons recognized as genocide and “a crime against humanity.”
He also paid respects at the Armenian Memorial to the Victims of Communist Repression, noting that the Government of Canada is working with community groups to build a Canadian Monument to the Victims of Communism.
Finally, Minister Kenney visited the Khor Virap Monastery, a key site in Armenian history near to the symbolically important Mount Ararat; and he attended a service at Holy Etchmiadzin, the spiritual centre of Armenia where Armenian Christianity was born in the year 301, AD.
Alexandra Fortier
Minister’s Office¾ Minister Kenney
819-994-2482
Media Relations
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-952-1650
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca
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