News Release – Minister Kenney announces citizenship judge appointments

Ottawa, June 24, 2009 — Aris Babikian and Floyd Calvin Babcock have been appointed citizenship judges for three–year full–time terms, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced today.

Mr. Babikian is the new Citizenship Judge in Mississauga, Ontario. For the last two decades, he has been very involved in immigration, citizenship, social services, culture, human rights and multicultural issues in his community. He has served as Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, and been a member of the Ontario Film Review Board and the Canadian Ethnocultural Council. Mr. Babikian was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal and the Ontario Volunteer Service Award. He speaks English, Armenian, Arabic, Turkish and Greek.

Mr. Babcock, the new Citizenship Judge in Etobicoke, Ontario, was the president of his own wealth management and financial planning company, an associate in an executive search firm and Executive Director of a Christian non-profit organization working in Indonesia. He has accumulated significant international and cross–cultural experience while working with profit and not–for–profit organizations that are active in the developing world. Mr. Babcock is an ordained Free Methodist Church minister and a volunteer teacher of English–as–a–second-language.

Citizenship judges are responsible for making decisions with regard to citizenship applications, presiding over citizenship ceremonies and administering the oath of citizenship to new citizens.

For further information (media only), please contact:

Media Relations Unit
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca