EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill proclaims April in each year as Genocide Awareness, Education, Condemnation and Prevention Month.

Bill 94 2019

An Act to proclaim the month of April as Genocide Awareness, Education, Condemnation and Prevention Month

Preamble

Ontario is a place that embraces diversity.

Genocide has affected the lives of many Ontario families and communities.

Ontario is home to many religious and ethnic communities who have been persecuted in the past.

The following genocides have been recognized by either the Legislative Assembly of Ontario or the Parliament of Canada, or by both:

    1.  The Armenian Genocide of 1915.

    2.  The Ukrainian Holodomor Famine of 1932 and 1933.

    3.  The Nanjing Massacre of 1937 and 1938.

    4.  The Holocaust Against the Jewish People of 1941 to 1945.

    5.  The Rwandan (Tutsi) Genocide of 1994.

    6.  The Communist Atrocities in Kampuchea of 1978 to 1989.

Ontario recognizes the genocides committed against the following communities:

    1.  The Pontian Greeks in 1915.

    2.  The Assyrians-Chaldeans-Syriacs in 1915.

    3.  The Yazidis in Iraq from 2014 to 2017 under ISIS.

    4.  Christian populations of Iraq and Syria from 2014 to 2018 under ISIS.

    5.  The Tamil speaking people in Sri Lanka.

    6.  The Rohingya Muslims.

On April 24, 2015, the House of Commons of Canada passed a motion designating April as Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month.

Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Genocide Awareness, Education, Condemnation and Prevention Month

1 The month of April in each year is proclaimed as Genocide Awareness, Education, Condemnation and Prevention Month.

Commencement

2 This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

3 The short title of this Act is the Genocide Awareness, Education, Condemnation and Prevention Month Act, 2019.