On April 24, RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan received Canada’s official delegation visiting Armenia to participate in the events for the commemoration of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide and led by Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Chris Alexander. The delegation includes Member of the Parliament of Vancouver Don Davis, Member of the Parliament of Ottawa Harold Albrecht, Adviser to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration of Canada Sarah Dion-Marquis and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to the Republic of Armenia John Ronald Curry.

Expressing gratitude to the guests for being in Armenia on the day that is of major significance for the Armenian people, Minister Hranush Hakobyan mentioned that the Armenian-Canadian friendship has a long history and was established when the Armenians settled in Canada. The minister expressed gratitude to the Canadian government for having created wide opportunities for Armenians to live and work in Canada. “I’m pleased to see that Armenians have become law-abiding citizens of Canada and have stayed true to their national roots.”

On behalf of himself and the delegation, Minister Chris Alexander said he and the delegates were very impressed with everything that they had seen in the past couple of days and assured that they would do everything possible for further strengthening of Armenia-Canada relations. As a minister of citizenship and immigration, Chris Alexander also asked about the issues facing Syrian-Armenians who have settled in Armenia as a result of the Syrian crisis.

Minister Hranush Hakobyan provided details about the events that the Government of the Republic of Armenia has carried out and emphasized that Armenia has solved all the problems that the Syrian-Armenians have had with healthcare, education, documentation, employment and other problems, but there are still difficulties with housing.

Chris Alexander and the members of his delegation promised to find ways that would help solve the problem.

The sides also discussed the opportunities for the development of Armenian-Canadian economic relations and other issues of mutual interest.