Shushi

In Montreal there are 3 day schools - Sourp Hagop (Pre-K to 11) (700 students) (www.sourphagop.com), École Alex Manoogian (Pre-K to 8) (450 students) (www.alexmanoogian.qc.ca) and École Notre-Dame-de-Nareg (Pre-K to 8) (300 students). All children learn French, English and Armenian. Last year Sourp Hagop was ranked 8th out of over 400 high schools in Quebec in terms of the academic results achieved by its graduating class in provincial exams. Sourp Hagop also runs a Saturday school. In addition there are several community centres - AGBU Alex Manoogian (www.agbumontreal.org), Tekeyan, Bolisehaymuyoutioun, and Sourp Hagop (which even has a restaurant). These centres provide all kinds of activities including sports, dancing, concerts, theatre, bridge, art exhibitions, lectures, etc. The two largest scout groups (of any kind) in Quebec are first Homenetmen and second AGBU. There are two weekly newspapers – Horizon and Abaka as well as radio and t.v. shows. There are several churches – Catholic, Evangelical and Apostolic. In particular the Diocese of Canada for the Armenian Apostolic Church is based in Montreal http://www.armenianchurch.ca/ . There is no friction between Western Armenians and Hayastancis perhaps because there are relatively few Hayastancis in Montreal. The only friction in the community comes from duplication of institutions (and fundraising) – schools, churches, political lobbying – as the Dashnaks have all their own institutions (including a Serpazan). Montreal is probably the only place in North America outside of LA where the language is fluently spoken by the younger generation, even those born in Canada. This is because there is a cultural space between the English and French speakers which means others don’t assimilate as quickly.

Troika is run by Ruben Vardanian, originally from Yerevan. Troika is in the process of purchasing ArmimpexBank.