Museum of Reconciliation proposed for Canada (08/29/99)

Museum of Reconciliation proposed for Canada

by Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj
Toronto Press Bureau

TORONTO - Sarkis Assadourian, the Syrian-born Armenian Canadian member of parliament (MP) earlier this year introduced a private members' bill, C-479, mandating the commemoration of the 20th century's crimes against humanity in an exhibit mounted by Canada's Museum of Civilization. He has decided to take his effort to another level and is calling for the establishment of a separate Museum of Reconciliation.

In late July, Mr. Assadourian launched a postcard-writing campaign urging Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to mention plans to set up such a museum in the Throne Speech this fall. This speech is traditionally delivered as an outline of the government's plans in the coming parliamentary session.

Mr. Assadourian's executive assistant, Daniel Kennedy, told The Weekly that the parliamentarian arrived at the name, "Museum of Reconciliation," after reading scholarly literature and consulting with academics for whom "the term 'genocide' is not accurate enough."

Mr. Kennedy said the effort is a step up because a mention in the Throne Speech would have budgetary implications, indicating that funds would be allocated to further the project. Private members' bills, Mr. Kennedy explained, cannot have a financial component and consist mainly of legal policy recommendations.

The MP's assistant said Mr. Assadourian's recent experiences in Poland and Israel, as well as the outpouring of support for his exhibit initiative prompted him to expand his campaign.

In a June 27-July 5 visit to Israel, organized by the Canadian Israel Committee, Mr. Assadourian met with Israeli, Palestinian and Druze politicians, paid homage to slain Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum.

During May 27-31, the Armenian Canadian MP visited the site of the Nazi Majdanek concentration camp in Poland in a trip sponsored by B'nai B'rith Canada.

Mr. Assadourian, the Liberal representative of the Brampton Center riding near Toronto, has received broad-based support from fellow members of parliament (about 200 of 243 endorsed C-479). He also garnered a strong response to his original initiative from a wide spectrum of Canada's ethno-cultural and civic organizations - including the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) and the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA).

On August 1, Ukrainian Canadian Congress Provincial Council President Walter Halchuk gave notice that he supports Mr. Assadourian's approach. Mr. Halchuk sent a letter of endorsement to all MPs, writing that his organization "fully supports ... the establishment of an inclusive or universal Genocide Museum or Museum of Reconciliation devoted to the commemoration of crimes against humanity - a medium that addresses healing as well as remembrance."

On August 3, the Soviet Ukraine Famine subcommittee of the national Ukrainian Canadian Congress issued a press release also endorsing the move. It quoted committee member Oksana Bashuk Hepburn as saying that "senior Ottawa advisors have told us that the government is seeking to make a response to the efforts we have put into seeking inclusion [in a broad-focused museum]."

A July communiqué issued by the parliamentarian mentioned that "MPs from across the country have received approximately 70,000 postcards from the Chinese Canadian and Ukrainian Canadian communities," and that "over 5,000 petitions from Canadian Armenians and other concerned Canadians have been received by my office to date."

Several Canadian ethno-cultural organizations have also come together in a group offering support to Mr. Assadourian's drive, known as the Coalition for a Genocide Museum (CGM). It is chaired by Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association Chairman John Gregorovich.

As of July 15, CGM member associations included the Association for Learning and Preserving the History of World War II in Asia (ALPHA), the Belarusan Canadian Coordinating Committee, the Buddhist Communities of Greater Toronto, the Canadian Arab Federation, the Canadian Islamic Congress, the Cypriot Canadian Federation, the Federation of Association of Canadian Tamils, the Federation of Canadian Turkish Organizations, the Hellenic Canadian Congress, the Hellenic Committee for Human Rights and National Issues, the Latvian National Federation of Canada, the National Association of Canadians with Origins in India, the National Federation of Pakistani Canadians, the Palestine Heritage of Canada, Pan African Movement of Canada, the Serbian National Shield Society of Canada, the Slovenian National Federation, the Toronto Kurdish Community and Information Center.

The UCC, the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada, the Canadian Ukrainian Immigrant Aid Society and the Ukrainian Women's Organization of Canada have also come on board.

Opposition before reconciliation

Mr. Kennedy said the Armenian Canadian MP had been scrupulous in sensitizing Canada's Jewish community to his effort, meeting in the fall of 1998 with leaders of the Canadian Jewish Congress (including current CJC President Moshe Ronen) prior to embarking on his effort to introduce and pass Bill C-479.

The executive assistant, who was present at the meetings, said the CJC's officials then insisted they would remain neutral, neither offering support nor presenting opposition to the Armenian Canadian politician's initiative, even as they continued to press for the establishment of a Canadian government-run Holocaust Museum dealing specifically with the Nazi-perpetrated genocide.

In the August 17 edition of the Toronto Star daily, Dr. Lawrence Hart, national president of B'nai B'rith Canada, argued that a Holocaust museum "could provide an environment for learning about the many acts of racism and atrocity around the world ... which have their parallels in the various stages of the Holocaust," and as such would be "inclusive of the experiences of many ethnic groups."

Dr. Hart argued that the proposal to create a "generic Museum of Genocide" was overly ambitious and an attempt at "detailed presentation of each unique experience is completely impractical and will be unable to do justice to any of them."

On July 31, another Toronto-based daily, the National Post, carried a story headlined "Plans for Holocaust museum stalled." The effort led by Mr. Assadourian and backed by the CGM is described as being responsible for delaying the Holocaust museum initiative.

In the National Post article, Mr. Ronen is said to believe that his community's effort has "become a casualty of ethnic rivalry." Asked about the viability of generic Museum of Genocide, Mr. Rohen warned that "various groups will have disagreements over who is the victim and who is the oppressor."

Mr. Gregorovich is quoted countering, "It's not much of an argument to say that because it's difficult, it shouldn't be done."

On August 1, the UCCLA issued a press release in which its chairman commented: "There is no need for controversy," adding that "there is absolutely no opposition on the part of the Ukrainian Canadian community, or any other group that I am aware of, to the development of a federally funded museum in our nation's capital that would focus on crimes against humanity and war crimes in the 20th century."

While Mr. Gregorovich does not oppose parallel bids to establish both a specifically dedicated Holocaust Museum run by the Canadian government and a more generally focused institution, Ukrainian scholars, such as historian Prof. Roman Serbyn of the Université du Québec à Montréal and community representatives, such as UCC Government Relations Committee Chair Adrian Boyko, do oppose parallel bids.

Mr. Assadourian has also expressed such reservations. In the National Post item, the parliamentarian is quoted as saying that any notion of two state-sponsored museums amounts to "discrimination among victims, who were killed because of discrimination in the first place."

| Home Page |