Minutes of the Monthly Meeting held on December 14, 2009 at Queen’s Park

 

Present:

Thomas S. Saras

Bikram Lamba

Asha Rajak

Irene Keroglidis

Suleyman Guven

Neel Nanda

Noreldin Waisy

Ned Blair

Teshome Worldeamanuel

Ismael Sambra

Iosif  Spataru

Mario Spataru

Maria Vieru

Mohammad Tajdolati

Uhani  Ministro

Joe Maadregaceve

Freddy Vellez

Viara Dimitrova

Bahram Bahrami

Hassan Zerehi

Jose Donan

Sutanaqh alonan

Ahmed S. Hotaki

N. Longendrolingam (Logan)

Muhammad Akli Bukhari

Taha Hassiaiuni

Ali  Mahboub  ITC TV

Muhammed Surang  F.J.R. Media

Sunil Rao

Fereyhoon Rahmani  Kurdish House

Zanh Abdulah             Kurdish House

Raffi Der- Boghossian    TorontoHye

Aaron Berhane

Prem Arasuratnam

Srimal Abeyerwardene

Moorthy Sellathurai

John Saraidaris

Mila Astroga- Garcia

Emmanuel Ayiku

Jonathan Annobil

Muluken Muchie

Cindy Gu       Epoch Times.

 

 

Regrets

Clyde McNeil

 

Agenda

1.      Welcome Remarks by the chair.

2.      Minutes of the previous meeting.

3.      Presidents Report

4.      New Business (Motions)

5.      Adjournment

 

 

Welcome Remarks by the Chair:

 

Dr.  Bikram Lamba chaired the meeting and declared the meeting open.

Irene Keroglidis moved a motion to approve the agenda of the meeting. Suleiman Guven seconded it. The motion was carried.

 

Minutes of the previous meeting:

Suleiman Guven moved a motion to approve the minutes of the previous monthly meeting held on November, 2009. Mohammed Tajdolaiti seconded it. The motion was carried.

Dr. Bikram Lamba chair of the meeting expressed anguish and agony on the conduct of certain members and their guests at the annual get-together on December 11, 2009 before the President rendered his report to the council.

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President’s Report/Discussions:

·        President Thomas Saras expressed his gratitude to the members who helped in preparation for the historical training and developmental seminar and the annual dinner.

·        The instructors at the seminar were thorough in their subject and gave invaluable insights and perspectives on various pressing and significant topics.

·        President Thomas Saras thanked members for declaring the Prime Minister of Canada as the Honourary Life chair of NEPMCC.

·        Mr. Scott Shortcliffe director of PAP was one of the instructors/speakers who briefed the members on the latest changes on the program during the seminar.

·        Multi Com has taken over Lingua Ads who were agents of Government Advertising and received 30% as commission.

·        Members can now directly approach for Government advertising to Cosette Media and avoid the 30% commission to the middle agent. This is due the persistent lobby by the Council all these years with various government agencies.

·        Members of the Council now have a strong voice. The hard work of the organization has finally paid rich dividends for the ethnic media industry in Canada.

·        285 members attended the Certificate Ceremony according to the Seneca College.

·        Thomas Saras thanked Irene Keroglidis and Hassan Zerehi for providing the flowers during Certificate Ceremony and the inauguration of  the Prime Minister as Honourary Life Chair.

·        Annual Get-together had 100% attendance and the President thanked Ned Blair and his committee for their efforts of a very successful event.

·        2 bottles of wine were present at each table. Some members went inside the kitchen and took 12 bottles from the kitchen, which further added to the expenses of the NEPMCC. This behavior also goes against the etiquette and professional demeanor of the Council and as such is not acceptable.

·        President Thomas Saras proposed May 9 –May 15 2010 as the dates to host the annual ethnic press exhibition at the rotunda of the Toronto City Hall. The week of May 9-15 has been declared by the UN as the International Media Week and hosting the annual press exhibition, therefore assumes special significance.

·        Effective January 1, 2010 the nominations for the annual awards will open and the process will end by March 31, 2010.

·        Motion: Thomas Saras tabled a motion to give out certificate of recognition to members working on a specific event. Srimal Abeyawardene seconded the motion. Muhammad Ali Bukhari objected to the motion as he considered the idea inappropriate. The motion was carried.

·        The year 2009, was a very successful year for NEPMCC and the Council now has around 600 members nationally.

·        President urged members to approach their respective communities to bring donations to the organization. There needs to be a collective leadership and effort in mobilizing resources for the Council.

·        Motion: NEPMCC would set a fixed amount every year to be donated to Seneca College to most deserving students studying journalism from ethnic background as bursaries/scholarship. Irene Keroglidis moved the motion and Mohmmad Tajdolati seconded it. The motion was carried unanimously.

The amount for scholarship would be decided later.

·        Irene Keroglidis congratulated the President and suggested to have the monthly meeting before the annual dinner next year.

·        Ned Blair enquired on who are eligible to be members of the Council. Dr. Lamba clarified on this and encouraged everyone to look at the constitution to find out the eligibility and other requirements to be a member.

·        Srimal Abeyawardene commented on the success of the recently concluded events.

 

 

New Business:

Mr. Bahram Bahrami suggested having panel discussions every 2-3 months on various issues. Aaron Mefith, Muhammad Ali Bukhari and other members contributed their ideas on the issue.

Mila Garcia said that Hermie Garcia has drafted a statement on the brutal murder of 35 journalists;.  Many organizations have already expressed their shock over the gruesome incident. Hermie Garcia read the statement. Members unanimously agreed in principle to draft a resolution on this very gruesome incident; however the draft will be finalized by Hermie Garcia after discussions with the President. Once amended and finalized the statement would be circulated to all the members.

Dr. Lamba informed that nomination form for the year 2010 awards will be put up in the website. There are three sections to the nomination. If a single item from the application is missing the nomination would be rejected.

As a professional etiquette the President and Ombudsman shall not be nominated. Any presentation to the office bearer should be cleared by the Ombudsman and the President.

 

 

New Members:

 

 

 

 

 

Adjournment:

 

 Irene Keroglidis moved a motion to adjourn the meeting .Ahmad Hotaki seconded it. The motion was carried. The chair adjourned the meeting at 9 pm. The next meeting would take place on January 11, 2010