News

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – Bill Bakalis was unanimously elected the new President of AHEPA Canada at the 94th annual AHEPA Family Supreme Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. Brother Bakalis will represent Canada on the Supreme Lodge of the AHEPA and work closely with the newly-elected Order of AHEPA Supreme President Andrew C. Zachariades.

“I am honoured and humbled to be selected by our Canadian brothers to carry forward the important mission of AHEPA in our country,” says Bill Bakalis. “The Order of AHEPA has played and will continue to play an important role in the lives of Greek immigrants and families of Greek heritage across North America.”

Bill Bakalis lives in Kitchener, Ontario and served as past KW Chapter President and, most recently, District No. 23 Governor. Bill was born and raised in Trizinia Poros. After serving his military term, he immigrated to Canada in 1987. Bill studied economics and joined Sun Life in 1999, where he remains today as Financial Advisor. Bill is a proud family man – father of two boys – and he is both a soccer and motorcycle enthusiast. He returns to Poros as often as he can to visit his parents and family.

“We wish Brother Bill every success in forwarding our mission” said past AHEPA Canada President Ken Matziorinis, at the Installation Ceremonies on Friday, July 29th. Many Canadians Ahepans were also on hand in Las Vegas to celebrate the swearing in of the new Canadian president: Nick Aroutzidis, Frank Antoniou, Tony Mavromaras, Anastasos Moussas, Dino Kourtessis, Christos Argiriou, and Chris George.

AHEPA (American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association) is an international Hellenic heritage group that provides community service across folkeautomaten North America. The mission of The Order of AHEPA is to promote Hellenism, education, philanthropy, civic responsibility, and family and individual excellence. The organization was founded in the Atlanta, Georgia in 1922 and the first Canadian Chapter in Toronto was founded in 1928.

AHEPA works coast to coast in Canada, serving its members and communities. Today, AHEPA Chapters are active in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener, London, Windsor, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Burnaby, and Victoria.

For more information on AHEPA Family Chapters in Canada visit:  www.ahepacanada.org

The AHEPA Canada President serves on the Supreme Lodge of AHEPA. For more information about AHEPA: Basil N. Mossaidis, Executive Director Order of AHEPA, 1909 Q Street, NW. Suite 500, Washington, DC 2009.

To contact Bill Bakalis, e-mail: [email protected]

OTTAWA, ON. – Canadian President of AHEPA Ken Matziorinis today formally presented Canadian Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic and High Commissioner to Cyprus H.E. Robert W. Peck with the Aristotle Award at a brief ceremony held at the Canadian Museum of History. This award is presented by the Supreme Lodge of AHEPA to an Outstanding Hellene or Philhellene who has distinguished himself in his respective profession or field of endeavour.

The award was originally announced at AHEPA’s 41^st Biennial Congressional Banquet on April 29, 2015 in Washington, D.C. by Supreme President Phillip T. Frangos, which Ambassador Peck was unable to attend.

“It gives me great pleasure to place in your hands the esteemed Aristotle Award on behalf of the Supreme Lodge and the entire Canadian AHEPA Family” said Canadian President Ken Matziorinis.

Ambassador Peck has worked tirelessly to expand Greek-Canadian trade and investment and has been instrumental in attracting billions of dollars of direct investment to Greece and making Canada the leading foreign direct investor. He has been instrumental in expanding educational and cultural ties between the two nations, among many other achievements. Noteworthy is the bilateral Youth Mobility Agreement (YMA) signed during the visit of Prime Minister Stephen Harper to Athens in 2011, which allows young people in both countries to broaden their professional work experience abroad.

“Ambassador Peck has been an exemplary ‘ambassador of Hellenism’ and has strengthened the strong ties between Hellas and Canada” said Canadian President Matziorinis. “He has made all Canadians of Hellenic descent proud with his achievements and his love for Greece”.

Among those present in the award handing ceremony were the Ambassador of Greece to Canada, His Excellency George Marcantonatos,  His Eminence Metropolitan Sotirios of the Greek Orthodox Church in Canada, the Honourable Madame Justice Andromache Karakatsanis of the Supreme Court of Canada, Nikos Hatzitheodosiou, President of the Ottawa Chapter of AHEPA, Bessie Giovanopoulos V.P. of the Ottawa DOP Chapter, Past Canadian President of the DOP Alice Sophianopoulos and Margaret Dritsas of the Ottawa Daughters of Penelope. Also in attendance were the the Former Ambassador of Greece to Canada Eleftherios Anghelopoulos, Costas Menegakis, M.P. for Richmond Hill, Fr. Alexandros Michalopoulos , Nikos Lafkas, President of the Greek Orthodox Community of Ottawa and Emmanuel Kammarianakis, Canadian Consul General in Dubai .

It is worth noting that in 1998, Ambassador Peck was awarded the insignia of Grand Commander of the Order of the Phoenix by the President of the Hellenic Republic for excellence in the public sphere.

Founded in 1922 in Atlanta, Georgia, and in 1928 in Toronto, Ontario, to protect individuals from the evils of bigotry and discrimination, AHEPA is the largest and oldest grassroots association of American and Canadian citizens of Greek heritage and Philhellenes with more than 400 chapters across the United States, Canada, Greece, Cyprus and Europe with affiliates in Australia and New Zealand.  The mission of AHEPA is to promote the ancient Greek ideals of Education, Philanthropy, Civic Responsibility, and Family and Individual Excellence through community service and volunteerism.

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For more information, please contact:

Dr. Ken Matziorinis, 514-884-6962

[email protected]

MONTREAL, QUE. – On the occasion of the 100th anniversary commemoration of the Armenian Genocide AHEPA Canada calls on the Government of the Turkish Republic to recognize what the overwhelming majority of historians and academic institutions on Holocaust and Genocide Studies, including the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) agree, that the massacres and forced deportations of Armenian, Pontian and Anatolian Greeks, Assyrians, Syriacs and other Christians constitutes a Genocide against these people.

AHEPA Canada also calls on the Government of the Turkish Republic to allow Turkish scholars and journalists the freedom to research and publish their findings on the historical events and engage in an open public debate free of threats and intimidation, for we believe that the Turkish people possess the maturity and desire to accept the facts, make amends and move forward toward reconciliation, friendship and cooperation.

The path towards forgiveness and reconciliation can only begin by accepting the truth and taking responsibility for our actions. This is the only way to build lasting friendships and ensure that past mistakes are not repeated in the future.

We join with the Armenian community of Canada in remembrance of those individuals that perished during the Armenian Genocide, while also remembering the slaughter of all Christian minorities during that time period, including the Pontian and Anatolian Greeks. May their memories be eternal.

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For more information, please contact:

Dr. Ken Matziorinis, 514-884-6962

[email protected]

www.ahepacanada.org

AHEPA FAMILY BRITISH COLUMBIA

PRESS RELEASE

VANCOUVER, BC – On Sunday December 14, 2014, the AHEPA Family in District #26 held their 26th annual Scholarship Christmas Dinner. District #26 gave away a total of $10,000.00 (ten thousand) in scholarships this year to 10 fantastically deserving students. Read More

PRESS RELEASE 

For Immediate Release

Monday, August 4, 2014

Montreal, QC, Canada, 9:00 AM

AHEPA CANADA PROTESTS PUBLICATION OF IRREDENTIST MAP BY UMD 

MONTREAL, QUE. – AHEPA Canada is dismayed by the publication of a map by the Toronto branch of UMD (United Macedonian Diaspora) in the Toronto Star issue of July 31, 2014, displaying the irredentist claims against Greece and Bulgaria by ethnic nationalists from FYROM (see attached map below).

Such maps depicting the entire Greek province of Macedonia and the Blagoevgrad prefecture in Bulgaria as being parts of a ‘United Macedonia’ along with a picture of Alexander the Great that the entire world and scholarly community (1) know was Greek are blatant and provocative acts that only serve to confuse the public, undermine harmony and fuel ethnic distrust and discord among ethnic groups and nation states.

AHEPA Canada believes that Canadian citizens -irrespective of their ethnic origin or religious background- ought to leave their ethnic and religious differences and animosities at the immigration gate. Once they become citizens of Canada they should strive to live in harmony and mutual respect with each other and focus on contemporary challenges that affect the wellbeing of Canadians in the interest of building a stronger country domestically and a more tolerant, peaceful and secure world internationally.

Actions that blatantly attempt to falsify history, redraw national boundaries, spread hate, defame ethnic groups or nations only lead to conflict and pain and should be avoided when the peoples of Greece, FYROM and Bulgaria share the same human challenges of securing peace, happiness and prosperity in the Balkans.

(1) For proof see Letter to President Barack Obama, signed by 375 eminent Historians, Classicists and Archaeologists in 2009: http://macedonia-evidence.org/obama-letter.html 

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Ken Matziorinis, 514-884-6962 [email protected]

Read More

( English PDF – Greek PDF )

MONTREAL, QUE – The Montreal AHEPA Family is proud to announce that it has fulfilled its six-year drive to raise $250,000 for the Shriners Hospital for Children in Montreal. The balance of $58,000 that helped reach this goal was raised at the 12th Annual St-Valentine’s Charitable Ball that took place on Saturday, February 12, 2011 at the Palace Reception Hall in Laval. Over the past twelve years the St-Valentine’s Ball has raised $400,000 for children’s causes. Other institutions that have been supported in the past include the Montreal Children’s Hospital, the St-Justine Hospital, the Giant Steps Foundation and the Children’s Wish Foundation. Read More

The Right Honorable Stephen Harper, prime minister of Canada, has invited AHEPA Canadian President Nick Aroutzidis to participate on his official delegation to theHellenic Republic on May 28 and 29, 2011, announced Supreme President Nicholas A.

Karacostas. Aroutzidis has accepted Prime Minister Harper’s invitation. Read More