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.
.
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
