In April 2004 , Karygiannis brought forward a private member 's motion which recognized the death of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923 as a genocide . The motion was approved by parliament 153 to 68 , with support among Liberal backbench and opposition MPs , though Prime Minister Martin and his cabinet did not show up for the free vote and insisted that the motion is non-binding . Foreign Minister Bill Graham has defended the government 's position that the event constituted a " tragedy " rather than the purposeful extermination of minority Armenians . In response to Martin 's assertion that foreign policy rests with the cabinet , Karygiannis said that a clear majority of Parliament saw it differently and urged Martin to live up to his promise to give MPs real clout . The Turkish government was strongly critical of the motion and argued that Canadian MPs were rewriting history , while the Turkish Embassy suggested that relations between the two countries would be harmed as a result . Local press has also described his genocide recognition cause as one that " splits cultural communities "
death of 1.5 million Armenians
Armenian Genocide
Jim Karygiannis