Canadian Member of Parliament Refers to Macedonians as 'Skopjans'

In an article in today's Globe and Mail -- regarding Canada's recognition of the Republic of Macedonia -- Liberal Member of Parliament (MP), The Hon. Jim Karygiannis, is quoted as referring to Macedonians as "Skopjans". This is a derogatory term Greek racists use to refer to ethnic Macedonians. It's equivalent to referring to African-Canadians as 'niggers'.

We encourage you to contact the editor of the Globe and Mail at 416-585-5000 and voice your concerns about the use of such terminology. Or you can email a letter of complaint to: letters@globeandmail.com

We have been instructed by the Liberal Party to call in and file our complaints directly to Stephan Dion (or his assistants).

E-mail the Liberal Party at: info@liberal.ca

Call Mr. Dion's office at: 1-866-599-4999 or 1-613-996-9740, Dion.S@parl.gc.ca

Hon. Judi Longfield, Executive Director - 416-921-2844 Ext. 301 - judi.longfield@lpco.ca

Mike Crawley, President Liberal Party of Canada Ontario - lpco.president@lpco.ca

Senator Marie Poulin, Liberal Party of Canada President - 613-237-0740 - poulim@sen.parl.gc.ca

Jamie Carrol, National Director Liberal Party of Canada - 613-237-0740 - jcarrol@liberal.ca

Please take the time to write to the Liberal Party and to the Prime Minister of Canada and voice your concerns. Prime Minister Stephen Harper's contact information can be found here:

http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/contact.asp?featureId=10

Here is what you might say:

"I found Mr. Karygiannis' comments in today’s Globe & Mail to be extremely offensive and insensitive to the Macedonian community; A community that I proudly belong to."

"I was offended by Mr. Karygiannis' vulgar reference to Macedonians. A member of the Canadian parliament should avoid making denigrating remarks against other members of the Canadian community."

"Racially derogatory comments are unacceptable from a member of any political party in Canada."

Please don't let Mr. Karygiannis get away with this kind of abusive language.

Thank you,

Risto Stefov, Lubi Uzunovski, Bill Nicholov

===============================================

Thanks to those who are writing in:

Mr. Prime Minister,

On behalf of myself, my family and the whole of the Canadian Macedonian community we wish to thank you for the bold move to finally recognize Macedonia by its rightful name.

You will notice that of all the ethnic communities in Canada only Canadian Macedonians put Canada first and without the hyphen. We are Canadians first but we have to know that our parents' birthplace is respected and recognized.

Thank you again.

V. S.

===============================================

Dear Jim,

You should be ashamed of yourself. You know very well that there was a Macedonia and that Macedonians have always called themselves Macedonians. You have known me since the early l980's when I was a real estate agent at Royal Trust three doors from your father's shoe store on Danforth Ave. You knew I was Macedonian and you chose to work with me because you stated that you "trusted Macedonians more than Greeks" when I asked why you chose me instead of the many Greek agents in my office.

Sorry Jim, you made a fool of yourself on As It Happens tonight, especially comparing Greece with Canada and United States. The Treaty of Bucharest was signed in 1913 when "The Powers that Were" divided up Macedonia giving Greece the largest and best part which you now call the Greek Province of Macedonia. Since then, what Greece has done to the Macedonians is worse than what Canadian government did to the Indians with the residential schools. At least our government recognized their folly and have compensated the Indians. Greece has tried desperately to eradicate our language and culture by forcing assimilation and denying the Macedonian language to be spoken even in the home. But it still is and will always be. BUT YOU KNOW ALL THIS.

V. S.

===============================================

I found his comments in today's Globe & Mail to be extremely offensive and insensitive to the Macedonian community; A community that I proudly belong to.

I had the fortune, or misfortune, of having the article passed over in my direction by a number of co-workers, most of non-Macedonian heritage, who were equally offended by Mr. Karygiannis. A man of his position within THIS country should be more selective with his wording, despite what his internal feelings regarding the situation might be.

The Greeks are pissed," seethed Jim Karygiannis, the Greek-born Liberal MP for Scarborough-Agincourt

As noted above, despite his own personal beliefs, some tact and restraint should be shown when speaking to the media. This form of sensationalism is unnecessary and is hardly the language you would expect to hear from an esteemed member of a Political party that I happen to support.

The MP said the Skopjans, as he referred to the Macedonians

Racially derogatory comments like the one above are also unacceptable from a member of a Political party in CANADA that I happen to support. Yes, he is Greek. Yes, I am Macedonian. However, we are in Canada, and in this country we take racism seriously (or so I thought).

This type of behavior is unacceptable and I trust that the Liberal party that I voted for will reprimand Mr. Karygiannis accordingly.

F. A.

===============================================

Dear Alan Freeman

Although it might be easy to make statements about the Republic of Macedonia that are not true you still have to ask yourself why? In your article you claim that both nations claim sole ownership of the name. Which other nation besides Greece claims sole ownership of the name Macedonia? It sure is not the republic of Macedonia. No such official statement has ever been made. Thousands of official statements of that nature have been made from the Greek side.

And what relevance is there in Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis comment "How would you like part of the United States to call themselves Canada? What if all of a sudden New York State begins to call itself Canada or Ontario?"

Greece has never been called Macedonia but Macedonia has always been called Macedonia. The northern region referred to in you article has been called Macedonia only since mid 1980´s or early 1990´s. The Republic of Macedonia has never made fuss over that fact. If liberal MP Jim Karygiannis is a Canadian citizen he should abide by Canadian laws and resolutions and furthermore he should apologize to the large Macedonian community in Canada for calling them Skopyans. Macedonians are no more Skopyans than Canadians are Ottawans. Please do not indulge the cry-babies (Greeks) any more!

G. B., Sweden

===============================================

I am surprised by Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis's statements regarding the decision taken by the Canadian government to refer to the Republic of Macedonian by its constitutional name (Re: Canada to recognize Balkan state as Macedonia despite disputed name, Sept. 21). As an elected public servant, it appears that he is using his position to enflame feelings between two of Canada's long established diverse ethnic groups. I am sure that I speak for many Canadians regardless of ethnic background who want our Canadian politicians to stay neutral on matters that have nothing to do with the running of this country.

Whatever his own personal feelings may be given his ethnic background, he should keep them to himself. As far as name duplicity goes, there are lots of places on this planet that carry the same name. Hamilton, Ontario, for example, can be found twice in the states of Ohio and New York. Mr. Karygiannis should calm down and get back to dealing with more important issues like the loss of manufacturing jobs due to the rise of the Canadian dollar.

A. W.

===============================================

To whom may it concern,

Dear Sirs

Some comments in today's Globe & Mail I found to be extremely offensive and insensitive to the Macedonian community, a community to which I proudly belong.

As a Macedonian I was very much offended by Mr. Karygiannis's racist remarks referring to Macedonians as "Skopjans", a derogatory term used by Greeks to refer to ethnic Macedonians. A man of his position within a country such as Canada should be more sensitive with his wording, irrespective of his feelings regarding the Greek-Macedonian situation.

Racially derogatory comments should also be unacceptable from a member of a Political party in Canada and I trust that the Liberal party will reprimand Mr. Karygiannis accordingly.

G.J.

===============================================

Dear editor:

In his article, Mr. Freeman claims that "both nations (Macedonia and Greece) claim sole ownership of the name (Macedonia)." This is incorrect. The government of Macedonia has repeatedly stated that the heritage of Macedonia belongs to all the people of the region and does not claim 'sole ownership' of the term Macedonia.

Mr. Karygiannis states that "Skopjans, (a racial slur for Macedonians), did not even settle the area until 800 or 900 AD." This is also factually incorrect. Slavonic tribes invaded Macedonia in the mid 500s. They have been the dominant group in Macedonia for as long as Anglo Saxons have been in Briton. I think 1500 years in the land entitles us to call ourselves Macedonians.

Karygiannis's analogy about part of the United States calling itself Canada is fallacious. Macedonia as a contiguous region was partitioned in 1913 after the Second Balkan War. Consequently, all the 'divided parts' of Macedonia have the right to use the term 'Macedonia' in describing themselves.

Under the circumstances there can be no monopoly of the term 'Macedonia' by Greece. In recognising Macedonia under her constitutional name Canada follows the lead of the United States, Russia, China, the UK and 112 other countries and extricates itself from this puerile argument. It should have been done sooner.

Finally, as a Canadian whose family is of Macedonian heritage I don't appreciate Mr. Karygiannis's racial slur. Referring to Macedonians as 'Skopjans' is equivalent to using the 'N' word to describe African Canadians. Mr. Karygiannis is an ill-informed racist and a disgrace to the Liberal Party of Canada. I will be interested to see how Stephan Dion deals with this 'loose cannon' of an MP.

L. U.

===============================================

From: “mplf1”
Sent: Friday, September 21, 2007
To: Dion.S@parl.gc.ca
Subject: Jim Karygiannis Racial Remarks

Dear Mr. Dion as a lifelong Liberal I am very upset at the comments that one of your members made in the media, Mr. Karygiannis called the Macedonians from the Republic of Macedonia, 'skopians', this is a racial and derogatory comment.

As a descendant of ethnic Macedonians of Greece, we had to put up with many fascists and racists in our homeland. For this kind of remark to be said here in Canada is appalling. If no apology or action is taken against Mr. Karygiannis you will lose the support of my family and me. I have never voted anything but Liberal in my life, I swore that after my mother had lost her job due to free trade that only the devil could make me vote for the Conservatives after all the troubles we went through as a family, but I guess you have someone far worse than the devil in your party.

My past MP, Ms. Parrish was forced out of the Liberal party due to her remarks against Americans, THIS IS FAR WORSE.

Looking forward to your actions and or reply.

Yours truly,

Mplf1

Reply from the Liberals

Subject:RE: Jim Karygiannis Racial Remarks
Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2007
From:"Liberal Party of Canada" info@liberal.ca
To:"mplf1"

Dear Sir:

On behalf of the Liberal Party of Canada, we would like to thank you for taking the time to write to us. Your comments regarding the recent remarks made by the Honourable Jim Karygiannis, Member of Parliament for Scarborough-Agincourt, have been reviewed.

Mr. Dion has been in communication with Mr. Karygiannis concerning his remarks. We have also forwarded a copy of your email to Mr. Karygiannis’ office.

We want to convey to you the position of the Liberal Party in this entire matter. The previous Liberal Government respected the international compromise that lead to the use of the name "Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia". While the issue of this name continues to be the subject of on-going negotiations between the two relevant nations, as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada Mr. Dion will respect the decision reached and endorsed by the United Nations.

Thank you for taking the time to write to the Liberal Party of Canada.

===============================================

The Honourable Stephane Dion, PC, MP, PhD
Leader of the Official Opposition
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6

Honourable Stephane Dion;

I was outraged to read of Mr. Karygiannis's recent racial comments in the Globe & Mail where he referred to Canadians of Macedonian descent as "Skopjans". This word is so derogatory and degrading that it is like calling Canadian-Italians "wops," Canadian-Chinese "Chinks," or African-Canadians "niggers." I am a card carrying Liberal that has helped in the last two federal elections. I have spent hundreds of hours towards helping get liberal candidates elected, e.g., The Honourable Albina Guarnieri, the Honourable Tony Ianno, Mr. Lui Temelkovski and the Honourable Maria Minna, not to mention others.

Please inform your fellow Liberal members that Mr. Karygiannis might have violated Canada's laws on hate speech. As the Leader of the Liberal party, Canadians expect you to act like a "Leader" by reprimanding Mr. Karygiannis and have him apologize not just to the Macedonian community as a whole, but all Canadians that are against this type of hate mongering. The response letter that was issued by your office is totally unacceptable. I hope that this is not the sole action that will be taken by you and by the Liberal party.

Macedonians born in undemocratic Greece have in the past and present had to deal with many human rights issues. Not only have our names been changed to sound more "Greek" but my family was punished for speaking to my parents in native Macedonian. My family left their homeland hoping for a better life in Canada. We were not expecting to be victimized on Canadian soil by Mr. Karygiannis's racist comments. Our eyes are on you to do the right thing.

Sincerely, Z.P.

CC: Mr. Michael Ignatieff,
MP The Honourable Albina Guarnieri, PC
MP, The Honourable Tony Ianno, PC
The Honourable Maria Minnia, PC
MP, Mr. Lui Temelkovski, MP

===============================================

You can contact Risto Stefov at rstefov@hotmail.com

Sep	OCT	Jan
	11
2006	2007	2011