HISTORY AND TIMELINE OF THE HELLENIC CANADIAN CONGRESS OF BC

Attended a farewell party for the Greek Olympic team at Romana Restaurant. We also organized a cheering section on West Broadway for the Olympic Torch runners.

Met with the President of the Ethnocultural Advisory Association to discuss their achievements as an advisory group to Burnaby Council.

Met with City representative to discuss Greek Day organization at 126 Keefer St.

Attended a farewell party for the Greek Olympic team at Romana Restaurant. We also organized a cheering section on West Broadway for the Olympic Torch runners.

Met with the President of the Ethnocultural Advisory Association to discuss their achievements as an advisory group to Burnaby Council.

Met with City representative to discuss Greek Day organization at 126 Keefer St.

Met with Delta Museum and Doug Massey regarding the historical representation of the Deas Island Greek community of the 1800’s.

With the support of the West Broadway Business Association, we dedicated the completion of the Greek and Coast Salish Indian artwork along Broadway in Kitsilano.

Sponsored “Greek Dance Work Shop” by Margarita Zantza.

Members of the SFU Advisory Committee met with the Chair of Hellenic Studies to discuss the recent progress in the program.

Met with SUCCESS to discuss the Chinese community’s engagement with SFU’s Intelligent Language Tutor program.

Sent the money raised via the Greek Fire Relief Fund to the Greek government for distribution to those affected by the forest fires.

Organized a Gala Tribute Dinner at the Stanley Park Pavilion to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Chair of SFU’s Hellenic Studies Program, now the largest program of its kind in the Americas.

Organized a press conference for local TV and Radio media promoting the Greek Fire Relief Program, a program we developed to collect donations to support the victims of the devastating fires in Greece. By November, the program had collected over $100,000.

Chaired a Forum of Greek youth to discuss their vision for the retention and promotion of Hellenism.

Called a Young Adults meeting to discuss how to retain and promote Hellenism in BC and encourage young people to get involved in community affairs.

Attended a Community Planning Meeting on “Racism and Discrimination”, organized by the Ethnocultural Advisory Association and SUCCESS.

Distributed our DVD, “History of the Greeks in BC”, to all Greek organizations, as well as Canadian and American media.

After a 17-year hiatus, held Greek Day on June 26th. The event was a great success and drew an attendance of fifty thousand.

Attended the opening ceremonies and inauguration of the new Serbian Community Centre in Burnaby and made a donation toward their building fund.

Completed production of our DVD, “History of the Greeks in BC”, which will be for sale to the public and donated to libraries.

Met with the Kitsilano Chamber of Commerce and the City of Vancouver to discuss the revival of Greek Day on Broadway.

Sponsored a town-hall-style meeting on the Annan proposal for Cyprus. Panel members were the Chair of Hellenic Studies and the Honorary Consul of Cyprus in Vancouver.

Attended an official signing ceremony between Simon Fraser University and the Greek Government. This was a historical event that signified the Greek Government’s support of a tenure track position in Greek language and linguistics.

Met with the Immigrant Services Society and SUCCESS to discuss how their programs could benefit the Greek community.

Hosted a concert at the Vogue Theatre with Greek-American singer, Nadia Weinberg, accompanied by the Municipal Orchestra of Athens.

Inspired by last year’s lecture on Kazantsakis, we helped create a local organization as a branch of Switzerland’s International Society of Friends of Nikos Kazantsakis.

Completed the Congress’ Hellenic Telephone Directory and distributed it to the Greek community at large.

Met with the President of Asian Heritage Month and a representative from Greece’s Institute of International Services to evaluate the Multicultural Policy of Canada for consideration and implementation in Greece.

In cooperation with the Cretan Association of BC, hosted a Greek lecture by Mr. George Stasinakis from Switzerland on the life and works of novelist, Nikos Kazantsakis.

Met with the Advisory Board of the Provincial Minister of Multiculturalism to discuss the promotion of multicultural education and the elimination of racism in BC schools.

Co-hosted a celebration in recognition of the centuries-old contributions given to the commercial fishing industry by Greek fishermen.

The Chair in Hellenic Studies at SFU inaugurated the Onassis Foundation University Seminars Program. The event, held at the Pan Pacific Hotel, was hosted by Ambassador Loucas Tsilas, the Executive Director of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation. The support of the Onassis Foundation will further advance the Hellenic Studies Program.

Met with the Federal Minister of Canadian Heritage to discuss the feasibility of using the Intelligent Language Tutor Program (developed by SFU Hellenic Studies) as the basis for an online language course. Specifically, we were focused on teaching Greek, and also languages at risk of disappearing.

Organized a Greek Cultural Festival with the support of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Secretariat General for Greeks Abroad.

Met with the High Commissioner of Cyprus to discuss local and international problems regarding the Cypriot people.

Sponsored a public meeting and televised panel discussion, “The Position of the Canadian Political Parties on the War in Yugoslavia”.

Co-sponsored with the National Congress a public meeting to protest the sale of the CANDU nuclear reactors to Turkey.

Hosted discussions with the Canadian Ambassador to Greece, Mr. David Hutton.

Hosted the forum, “Constitutional Forum on Canadian Unity”. Based on the forum, we created the educational video package, “Canadian Unity”.

Hosted lectures on a variety of national and international subjects.

Organized and distributed petitions protesting the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. We petitioned the Canadian government to recognize the name, “Former Republic of Macedonia”.