Canada’s Minister of National Defense Anita Anand was invited last Thursday May 11 to a reception by ville St Laurent MP Emmanuella Lambropoulos to meet her team, organized by her association.
Miss Lambropoulos introduced Anand whose home constituency is Oakville ON. Anand commented in her speech how St Laurent team are like family being from a diverse group of people working together as Canadians. She was particularly impressed with MP Lambropoulos work and the association’s organizational network. She answered questions from the group and photo ops were done.
When we asked about Canada’s policy towards the prevailing situation in Armenia, she said that Canada is still imposing an embargo on the countries of the disputed region. We, in turn, asked the Canadian Minister of National Defense for humanitarian military medical assistance and training for Armenia, and she said that she would look into the matter. Armenian members told her that 20 more people were injured yesterday, that all we want in the region is peace, and that Canada should work through diplomatic means and work to achieve this with the appointment of Stephen Dion as Special Envoy and the opening of a Canadian Embassy in Armenia. She said this should be discussed further with Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly. She proudly said in her constituency of Oakville that she attended Easter services at the Armenian Apostolic Church and was greatly impressed by the people and children.
Among the Armenian community in attendance were: Varante Yaboudjian, Bella Gharibyan, Caroline Arslanian, Berj Mirjanian and Ara Balian.
