Within the celebrations commemorating 70 years of friendship and diplomatic relations with Greece, Speaker of the Senate of Canada Noël Kinsella received Greek Ambassador to Canada Eleftherios Aggelopoulos and Greek lawmaker Alexandros Dermentzopoulos, head of the Greek Parliamentary Committee taking part in this year’s 127th Inter-parliamentary Union Conference.
Representatives from Greece and Canada paid tribute to the monument of Major-General Georges-Philéas Vanier and Pauline Vanier. Vanier was a Canadian soldier and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 19th since the Canadian Confederation was established.
He was the first Canadian official to present the ostracized Greek government of 1942 with credentials despite the ongoing war with the Axis Powers. In October 1942, the then-government of Canada decided to establish diplomatic relations with the members of the Allied Powers in London and assigned General Vanier to accomplish the task.
“Ever since the very beginning of their diplomatic relations, both Canada and Greece have demonstrated their loyalty and trust to the ideals of international peace and security, protection of human rights and promotion of democracy” noted Kinsella.
