MEDIA ADVISORY

"Commitment to one another must be stronger than any conflict overseas"

Ottawa, May 26, 2002 - At their Biennial General Assembly, members of the Canadian Ethnocultural Council re-elected Art Hagopian as their President for another two-year term. The Canadian Ethnocultural Council is the only Canadian coalition of diverse national ethnocultural organizations which come together to promote understanding of the multicultural reality of Canada and to work towards harmonious relations of Canada's diverse communities.

Mr. Hagopian expressed concern regarding the rise of hate crimes and attacks to members of cultural and religious communities and their places of worship. "Senseless acts of hatred are attacks on all of us" says Mr. Art Hagopian. "Conflicts which take place overseas, must not override our commitment to respect one another and to accept our differences here in Canada. We all need to work in support of a peaceful co-existence in this multicultural society." Mr. Hagopian called upon the federal government to support communities which work to promote better multicultural understanding.

Mr. Hapopian was first elected as President in May of 2000. Previous to that he was President of the Armenian National Federation of Canada. Mr. Oleh Romaniw, a past-President of the Ukranian Canadian Congress was also re-elected as the Vice-President.

Other members of the CEC Executive include: Mr. Emmanuel Dick (National Council of Trinidad and Tobago Organizations of Canada); Mr. Salvador Cabugao (National Council of Filipino Associations of Canada); Mr. Lou Sekulovski (United Macedonians Organization of Canada); Dr. Yoe Sook Youn, (Federation of Korean-Canadians); Mr. Vince Luca (National Congress of Italian Canadians); Mr. Nehemiah Bailey ( National Council of Jamaicans and Supportive Organizations of Canada; Yvonne Bogorya-Buczkowski (Canadian Polish Congress); Hatice Pakdil (Federation of Canadian Turkish Associations) and Jacob Mksyartinian as the Youth Chairperson (Armenian Federation of Canada). All members of the Executive and Board are volunteers.

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For more information contact Anna Chiappa, Executive Director, (613) 230 - 3867, fax (613) 230-8051 or anna@ethnocultural.ca.

The Canadian Ethnocultural Council is a coalition of 32 national ethnocultural organizations which in turn represent over 2,000 local chapters across Canada and whose mandate is to work towards the elimination of racism and the understanding of the multicultural reality of Canada.