Toronto City Council voted on motion to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Council voted on Motion MM6.7 which reads: “City Council recognizes the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide to honour the memory of the men, women and children who died”, the Armenian National Committee of Toronto reported.

The motion was brought forward by Councillor Jim Karygiannis (Ward 39) and, through strong support from longtime friends of the Armenian community, achieved the two-thirds majority required for a procedural motion to avoid being referred to the Executive Committee.

At that point, Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7), who was the recipient of a fundraising campaign during the 2014 municipal election by deniers of the Armenian Genocide, put a hold on the item to prevent it from going straight to a vote.  The item was brought up later in the Council meeting where Councillor John Campbell (Ward 4) tried to kibosh the motion by moving “receipt” instead of adopting the recommendation.  The attempt failed and the motion ultimately passed 26-4 with Councillors Campbell, Mammoliti, Berardinetti (Ward 35), and Shiner (Ward 24) voting against.