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Minutes of the Monthly Meeting held on September 10, 2018, at Committee Room #2 City Hall.

Present:

Thomas S. Saras
Neel Nanda
Maria Saras-Voutsinas
Rosemary Sadler
Ricky Castellvi
Jonathan Annobil
Leila Monteiro Lins
Jonathan Annobil
Mohammed Bagher Samimi
Ali Mahmoud
Mohammad Tajdolati
Ghulam Rasool
Anfisa Lyasota
Ranjit Wicks
Sandie De Freitas
Norman Hart
Teshome Woldramanuel
Khalid Magen
Gezahegn Mekonnen Demissie
Saad Alsafar
Rui Yang
Hai Tien Lin
Joe Volpe
Logan Longarigham
Banglatore Nagaragn
Arif Ahmed
Marek J. Goldyn
KumananThnambi
Nishrite Don
Ernesto Donan
Isa Melo
Thavapalan Kathiravelu
Yuri Natcetoi
John Saraidaris
Said Henry
LuiQueano
ElizabethMurok
S. Krinalingam
Inga Cernei
Hermie Garcia
Mila Garcia
KumayanThambi
NajibullahPopalzai
Robin Beckosian
Khalid Magnam
HannanMamun
NobodiNews
Aysegul Kalkan
Ersoy Kalkan
Nishanta Don
Ali Mahboub
MulugetaZergaba
Janusz Niemczyk
Denis Brito
Stensont A
GeethaNangarajh
Syed Irbal
Mike Kolosowski
Euginea Bakchinow
Boddy Wang
Anastasios Chatzitheofanous
MuhacumadNaeemUl Islam
NajibPopalzai
WaisPopalzai
Foe Jole
Nishantha Dion
Thanapalan Kathivarelu
Dimitris Vohaitis
Daril Brar
Ahmad Rostamijam
Lalit Thakar
Lawrence Joseph
Ronny Yason
Khuvan Aftab
Abdul Azeem
Qazi AFRASIAB
Nawrin Foorah
S Krishnalingam
Sonny Mir
Shaiful Horn
Khalid Morgan
Bobby Wang
Muhammad Boukari
Ahmad Hotaki
Thomas  Galgor
S. Sivamohan
Kathy Lin
Kathy Geraklis
Kumanan Thambi
Tamil Muraka
Hermie Garcia
Mila Garcia
Solomon Areinu

BetyGlothai
Salah Allam
Stena Allam
S. Subramanian
Elizabeth Muzale

Agenda of the day:

  1. Welcome Remarks by the chair.
  2. Minutes of the previous meeting
  3. Report of the President/Discussions
  4. Presentation by Peace and Justice Alliance and  Canadian Human Rights International Organization (CHRIO)
  5. New Members/New Business
  6. Adjournment

Welcome Remarks by the Chair:

Dr. Tajdolati chaired the meeting and declared the meeting open. Rosemarie Sadlier moved a motion to approve the agenda. Yuri Natchetoi seconded it. The motion was carried. .

Minutes of the previous meeting:

Jonathan Annobil moved a motion to approve the minutes of the previous monthly meeting Inchaha seconded it.  The motion was carried.

President’s Report/Discussions:

  • President Thomas Saras expressed disappointed that very few members attended the Ethnic Press Exhibition at the CNE, although tickets were distributed to all members.
  • Educational conference will be held next year for 3 -4 days. A survey will be sent to the members to finalize the curriculum of the seminar.
  • Next meeting will be held on October 22. October 21 - October 29 there will be exhibition of multicultural arts exhibition at the Rotunda of the City Hall with the participation of more than 15 artists / painters from 10 different cultural communities.
  • Annual Awards to take place on November 9 at the Rotunda of the City Hall. The awards will be presented by the leader of the official Opposition Ontario and Canada and also Senator Housakos.  The event will have red carpet for the pictures.
  • Motion-There was a suggestion on the floor that a reception will be held by NEPMCC at the Rotunda following the Award Ceremony in honour of the award recipients and members of NEPMCC. Demetris Vohaitis moved a motion to this respect. It was seconded by Yuri Natchetoi and was unanimously carried. The office of the President will bear the expenses for the event
  • Annual Dinner will take place on December 14 at the Cypriot Community Centre or in a new Hall. Isa Melo is the going to be the responsible organizer of this annual event.
  • President Thomas Saras mentioned that the Government promised in the last budget to allocate $50 million dollars for five years or 10 million dollars per year, for financial support to community publications, out of this amount 20% should be distributed to Ethnic Media. Unfortunately according to his latest information no action was taken to this direction by the government. He encouraged all members to apply for funds under the Canada Periodical Fund and other such programs by Federal Government. President Thomas Saras would meet with the officials to discuss distribution of advertising in ethnic media. To this extend he is appearing also at the committee of the Senate of Canada on telecommunications for the same reason.
  • Thomas Saras mentioned that rules will be changed for receiving grants under Canada Periodical Fund and more emphasis will be given on Canadian content and circulation than sales, which was the measure in the previous years.  He emphasized that before submitting their application under the Canada Periodical Fund, the members should thoroughly go over all the rules in order to avoid any rejection of their application
    .
  • President Thomas Saras, is organizing together with the Ministry of Canadian Heritage a one day conference n order to inform the members of the changes that are taking place in “The Aid to Publishers Program” under the Canada Periodical Fund. The deadline for application for the Canada Periodical Fund is November 24 2018. The office of the President of NEPMCC will hold a one day educational seminar to educate the members about the changes. The exact date and time of the conference is Friday November 2, 2018 at 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. The responsible officer for the program will be in Toronto to explain to our members how to feel the application.  The president encouraged all the members to attend. The meeting will be held at committee room N# 2, second floor Toronto City Hall.
  • President Thomas reminded the members that as previously discussed NEPMCC will organize an exhibition of artistic painting from the artists of the ethnic communities. The exhibition will run from October 21 to October 28 in the rotunda of the City Hall. The Rotunda of the City Hall will be under tight security protecting the art works. The President encouraged all the communities to submit the art work and participate in the exhibition.
  • The president also encouraged all the members to apply for an ID or Media Pass of the organization. There are so many benefits; the president said that it is to your advantage to have it.
  • The City of Toronto will offer editorials in English which should be translated in 10 different languages. The Editorial will be published in the website and also in the main language of the publications.
  • The President spoke about student internship program with the schools of journalism.  Internship will be from 3 – 6 months. The program will cover $13 per hour per student and the rest has to be covered by the respective organization. President Thomas Saras said he will travel to Ottawa to continue his dialogue with the Federal Government regarding advertising and funding of ethnic media. A motion was placed on the floor about his plans for improving the program. The motion was carried unanimously. The office of the president authorized to cover any amount of expenses he needs for this task.
  • This year the Annual Awards will take place at the Rotunda of the Toronto City Hall, on Friday November 9th, 2018.  Following the presentation of the awards the organization will offer a reception in honour of the recipients. The motion was carried.
  • Presentation by Joe Volpe:

    He revived Corriere Canadese. The organization began in 1954 and is the largest serving Italian newspaper in North America. The organization has applied for a CRTC licence to offer 24 hours news, current affair programming for Canada’s multicultural communities. Four mandated languages as per the CRTC are Punjabi, Italian, Cantonese and Mandarin. He said that this multi lingua multi cultural network hopes to be self sufficient if the application for CRTC is accepted. He said members could join through a link on NEPMCC website or go to their YouTube Channel.
    Motion: There was a motion in floor to support the application of Corriere Canadese for CRTC licence an initiative taken by Joe Volpe. Yuri Natchetoi moved and Demitri Vohalitis seconded it. It was unanimously carried

    Presentation by Incumbent Mayor and Mayoral Candidate of Toronto John Tory.

    He began his address by mentioning that he started 4 years back bringing back order in the City.
    Since being elected in 2014, John Tory has made the city more livable, affordable and functional. He has improved the way people move around this city, fighting traffic congestion and speeding up major construction projects; introducing free transit for kids under 12 and discounted transit for low income residents; championing a transit network expansion plan, and securing $9 billion in investments from other levels of government – the single biggest infrastructure investment in this city’s history.
    He spoke about the Key Issues facing the city. They were as follows
    Under Mayor Tory’s administration, Transit Network Plans are being developed for the first time, which means we are not planning transit projects in isolation, but rather considering them through a network approach. This ensures we are planning projects that fit into the wider vision for the city, and that they are being built concurrently, and not one at a time as before
    Key Issue - Affordable Rental Housing: Created the Open Door program which leverages City land as well as providing property tax deferrals, Development Charge waivers, and fast tracked approvals process to build more affordable housing faster. Unlocked 18 City sites for affordable housing through the Open Door program. Exceeded the City’s affordable housing targets for the first time since the target was set in 2009.Approved over 3700 units of affordable rental housing, 1650 of which were approved in 2018 alone.

    Key Issue - Taxes During the 2014 election campaign, the Mayor committed to keeping property taxes at or below the rate of inflation. He has delivered on that promise every year he has been in office. He has also kept waste rates at or near the rate of inflation. And he has stuck with City Council’s plan to implement water rate increases dedicated to improving storm and wastewater infrastructure. The Mayor also killed a proposal for a separate stormwater charge - the so-called roof tax - that would have increased water bills for many residents in the City.
    Key Issues - Community Safety: Hired 200 more police officers in 2018, with plans to hire 200 in 2019.Proposed a handgun ban which the federal government is currently considering. Enacted a Police Modernization Task Force to put more officers on the front lines where they are needed. Worked with the federal and provincial governments to secure $30M in community programs and enforcement technologies, which will assist the City in: Expanding the Toronto Youth Partnership and Employment Program (TYPE) in 2019 to serve an additional 1800 youth; Increasing the number of TCHC Special Constables and moving towards a community focus rather than patrols; and Expanding the Community Crisis Response Program. Continued investment in Youth Violence Prevention programs and enhanced funding in 2018 by $500,000. Expanded TCHC’s YouthWorx program, providing dozens more trades jobs to at-risk youth living in Toronto Community Housing.Enacted the Strong Neighbourhood Strategy as well as developed and implemented the Poverty Reduction Strategy to address some of the root causes of crime. Approved the purchase of innovative technology ShotSpotter to better alert police officers of gun violence, allowing for increased rapid response. Help job fairs in lower income and more isolated areas of the City.
    He concluded his presentation by mentioning that under his tenure the City was run better.
    Following his presentation there was a roundtable discussion.
    Ricky Castellvi, Muhammad Bukhari, Eugenia, Demitris, Janusz, Mareck Goldyn, Arif Ahmed and many other members participated in the discussions and asked questions on pertinent issues facing the City.
    John Tory candidly answered all questions that were raised on the floor.
    He then thanked the members of NEPMCC for inviting him to the meeting and promised to continue the dialogue with NEPMCC.

    Presentation by Councillor Candidate Sonny Mir, Ward 20

    Sonny Mir, made a brief presentation and informed the council for his reason in running as councillor candidate in ward 20. He said if he gets elected he will open a Senior Care in Scarborough South West and promised all possible help for the betterment of the community.
    New Members/ New Business:
    Nawrin Farah – Host Youth Bangla Radio and Associate Editor One Heritage Canada Magazine.

    Adjournment: Ricky Castellvi moved a motion to adjourn the meeting and Yuri Natchetoi seconded it The motion was carried. The Chair, Dr.Tajdolati adjourned the meeting at 9 pm. The next monthly meeting would take place on Monday, October 22, 2018 at committee room N# 2 at the Toronto City Hall.