In his message, the Mayor of the Canadian capital, Mark Sutcliffe, wrote, among other things:
“On behalf of the members of the Ottawa City Council, I have the great pleasure and honor to extend my congratulations to the Bosnian-Herzegovinian citizens of the Canadian capital on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Canada is home to more than 25,000 citizens of Bosnian-Herzegovinian origin. As the President of the Council, I would like to thank the Bosnian-Herzegovinian community in Ottawa for their significant contribution to the economic, cultural and social prosperity of our city, which has significantly enriched the cultural and social mosaic of our community. As the Mayor, I extend my best wishes to the Bosnian-Herzegovinian community in Ottawa on the occasion of the Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Bosnian-Herzegovinian community also addressed the Ottawa Assembly on the occasion of the Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina with a request to raise the national flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina in front of the Assembly. A positive response was received, which only needed to be confirmed by the Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Canada.
Even before the Statehood Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a special instruction to the ambassador in Ottawa regarding the display of the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Neither then nor now for Independence Day, the ambassador did not comply. He did not even procure a state flag of certain dimensions as requested by the Ottawa City Council.
We believe that the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina who pay him deserve a much better attitude from the ambassador towards the country he should proudly represent.
Bosnia and Herzegovina must be truly diplomatically represented in Canada, the country that currently presides over the institution of the seven most developed countries in the world and which is a member of the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s diplomatic strategy must be much more engaged and oriented towards countries in which our communities have already established excellent contacts with political, economic and academic entities, stated Genocide Research Institute Canada.
