Quebecois-Armenians Advance in Political Arena

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AGBU Montreal Chapter, Press Release, 3 June 2012

Montreal, June 3, 2012 – AGBU Montreal is proud to announce that during its biannual convention held in Montreal, the Quebec wing of the Federal Liberal Party elected Viken L. Attarian, former chairperson of the AGBU Montreal Chapter, to the senior position of Chair/President of its Policy Commission. With this success, Viken becomes a member of the Board of Directors of the party in Quebec and gets a seat at the key National Policy and Platform Committee of the Liberal Party of Canada.

AGBU Montreal Chapter, Press Release, 3 June 2012

“This was a very successful convention”, said Viken, “We had over 600 delegates participating from all over Quebec, which was much higher than originally anticipated; the confidence the delegates gave me was extraordinary”. Viken ran for the position practically unopposed and is the first immigrant Canadian and non-Francophone ever to be elected to this position. “I started working in this Commission many years ago with its founder, Senator Serge Joyal”, added Viken. “The Senator and my colleagues on the Commission have become an incredible source of intellectual inspiration. I have learnt a lot from them and look forward to putting my knowledge to the service of the Liberal Party of Canada, and to the benefit of all citizens of the country”.

“We are really excited by Viken’s success” said Aram Yacoubian, chairman of the AGBU Montreal chapter. “In recent years, members of our chapter have had great input in the political landscape of Canada. Harout Chitilian, a former member of our Executive Board was elected City Councilor in Montreal and later achieved the position of the President/Speaker of the City Council. Vrouyr Makalian, one of the best leaders of our scouting movement, winner of several awards, is now the policy advisor in Ottawa to the Senator the Hon. Maria Chaput”. “This shows that the involvement in community affairs can and does eventually lead to successful political and public participation on a much larger scale and can even lead to successful careers. AGBU is the place where it all started and was nurtured and we could not have been more pleased” added Yacoubian.

The Liberal Party of Canada convention in Montreal also included a special roundtable discussion with the various cultural communities, which was organized by the leader, the Hon. Bob Rae, with the participation of many MPs. AGBU Montreal also participated with a delegation comprised of Mrs. Arsineh Attarian, Mr. Vrouyr Makalian and Mr. Ayrem Ohennisian.

For further information, please contact the AGBU at 514-748-2428 or at [email protected]. Information about AGBU Montreal can be found at our website at www.agbumontreal.org.