Visit to Canada of His Excellency Galust Sahakyan, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, and a Parliamentary Delegation

From May 24 to 26, 2015, His Excellency Galust Sahakyan, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, led a parliamentary delegation to Montreal and Ottawa at the invitation of the Honourable Andrew Scheer, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons. The delegation was composed of Mr. Vahram Baghdasaryan, M.P., Mr. Artak Zakaryan, M.P., Mr. Hovhannes Sahakyan, M.P., Ms. Ruzanna Muradyan, M.P., Mr. Aghvan Vardanyan, M.P., Mr. Hrant Bagratyan, M.P., Mr. Lyova Khachatryan, M.P., and Mr. Tevan Poghosyan, M.P.

Accompanying the delegation were Mr. Victor Biyagov, Head of Foreign Affairs Division, Mr. Artak Hovhannisyan, Head of Protocol, Mr. Arsen Babyan, Head of Press Department, Mr. Ara Sahakyan, Speaker’s Assistant, Mr. Tigran Muradyan, Cameraman, and Mr.  Edgar Aghakhanyan, Bodyguard.

His Excellency Armen Yeganian, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to Canada, and Mr. Aram Hakobyan, Third Secretary, also accompanied the delegation.

While in Ottawa, the delegation met with:

• The Honourable Leo Housakos, Speaker of the Senate;
• The Honourable Andrew Scheer, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons;
• The Honourable Jason Kenney, P.C., M.P., Minister of National Defence and Minister for Multiculturalism;
• The Honourable Paul E. McIntyre, Q.C., Senator, International President of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaires de la Francophonie (APF) and members of the APF;
• Mr. Harold Albrecht, M.P., Chair of the Canada-Armenia Friendship Group and members of the Friendship Group.

In Montreal, the delegation met with Mr  Jacques Chagnon, M.N.A., President of the National Assembly of Quebec and the Honourable Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montreal. The delegation also met with members of the Armenian community.

The visit to Canada provided an opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries and the two parliaments. Discussions included the centennial of the Armenian genocide and the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh as well as parliamentary cooperation, diplomacy and current affairs. The visit also presented an occasion for the signature of a joint declaration by Mr. Harold Albrecht, M.P., Chair of the Canada-Armenia Friendship Group and Mr. Hovhannes Sahakyan, M.P., Chair of the Armenia-Canada Friendship Group.