NATIONAL
ETHNIC PRESS AND MEDIA COUNCIL OF CANADA
Conseil national de la presse et des medias ethniques du Canada
Canada’s
Other Voices
Minutes of the
Monthly Meeting held on January 11, 2009 at Queen’s Park
Present:
Thomas S. Saras
Bikram Lamba
Saad Alshbar
Asha Rajak
Dumitru Popescu
Abdul Syed
Trifon Haitas
Khan Khoda
Maria Cuslea
Iosif Spataru
Mario
Spataru
Moorthy
Sellathurai
Tedd
Velez
Joe
Stregiacone
Lore
Abittan
Don
Betiger
Vuhan
Nunicic
Irene
Keroglidis
Ali
Mahboub
Parry Long
Mohammad Tajdolati
Teshome Woldeamanuel
Susana
Donan
Ismiael
Sambra
John
Saraidaris
Vera
Dimitrova
Muhammad
Ali Bukhari
Taha
Hassaniani
Hai Tien Lin
Ahmad Hotaki
Srimal Abeyewardene
Logan Logendralingam
Mohammad Jurany
Prirj Hussain
Mahmoud Hussain
Marek Goldyn
Jonathan Annobil
Emmanuel Ayiku
Azm Sajedur Rahman
Luba Cherny
Adnan Hasmi
Agenda:
1. Welcome Remarks by the Chair
2. A call to order by the Chair
3. Minutes
Presentation
4. Report by the President
5. Pension for the members of the NEPMCC
6. A. Word on the Street Exhibition 2010/CNE 2010
B. Exhibition at City Hall, May 2010/Awards 2010
7. A. New Business (Motions)
B. New Members
8. Adjournment
Welcome
Remarks by the Chair:
Dr. Bikram Lamba chaired the meeting and wished all members of the NEPMCC a happy and prosperous New Year. He welcomed all members to the first meeting of the year 2010 and informed all members about the monthly meeting which is held every second Monday. This tradition will continue this year unless there is a holiday on that day our monthly meeting will be automatically postponed to third Monday. He requested the members for their participation so we grow together with the Council not only in numbers but also professionally. He also announced that effective the first of January of this year takes effect our new constitution. The constitution was changed last year by a special constitutional committee from members and is placed in the web site of the organization as has been approved and accepted unanimously by the members of the Council during the March of 2009. The assembly voted that day that the new constitution will be effective from the 1st day of the year 2010. The Chair also reminded the members that according to provisions of the Act for non profit Organizations, every member must renew his/her membership by the first day of the new year, in order to maintain his membership rights and privileges. It is therefore that he is encouraging all to do this immediately. Without the renewal of the membership no member can participate in our debates as being not in good standing with the organization.
With these remarks, he called the meeting to order. Dr. Khan Monzoor-E-Khoda moved a motion to approve the minutes of December 2009 meeting and Irene Keroglidis seconded it. Minutes were approved unanimously.
The President, Mr. Thomas Saras suggested before the official opening of the meeting to pay homage of a moment of silence to one of our colleagues Michelle Lang who was killed in the line of duty while working in Afghanistan on December 23rd along with four Canadian soldiers. The assembly agreed and held a moment of silence for a minute.
Dr. Khan Monzoor-E-Khoda moved a motion to approve the agenda for this meeting as it was presented by the executive and Irene Keroglidis seconded it. The motion was carried.
The first item on the agenda for presentation was put on hold as the presenters were not present and moved to report by the President.
Report by the President:
- President, Mr. Saras officially wished Happy New Year 2010, success and good health this year to all the present and members who were not present at the meeting.
- A proposal is being put together to submit to the Minister of Federal Government about Canadian Pension Plan. The council is asking the minister to accept some changes in the provisions of the Canada Pension plan so that every member who is either making or not making profit from their publishing business can make a special contribution to the plan towards their CPP. All we need to have a special provision which allows us equal status with the rest of Canada’s small business for this year. Members will be notified as soon as we find out detailed information. However, all the members of the Council are requested to grab this opportunity and participate in this plan. Next year there might be changes in the system so all the members are requested to take this matter seriously and get involved as this is the only window for us to enter. The President is also negotiating right now about the CPP for those of us who are close to retirement, especially for people between the ages of 58-62. If you want to retire at the age of 65, you have only 3-4years to contribute to this plan. So, we are requesting that this person will contribute in pro-rata basis in the last remaining two years for the retirement in order to have five year’s contribution they are accordingly going to receive the maximum amount possible. These proposals are still under negotiation. First we are waiting for the act to be passed by Parliament. The President believes that by the end of this year he is going to be able to finalize it. He requested all the members for their support on this matter. This is going to be a good opportunity for our children and other members of our family who are going to take over the business in future.
- Hon. Margarett Best, Minister responsible for the promotion of Long Health, is calling for a round table discussion with the members of the Ethnic Media on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 5:30 PM at the office of the Ministry at 777 Bay St. 18th Floor. Her Press Secretary, Wendy Vincent will be sending an invitation. She can be contacted at 416 326 8497. Please try to attend the meeting. Please give your name to the President or Asha in order to submit it to Ministry’s officials.
- President Saras thanked all members and their community for their invitation to represent NEPMCC to their respective community events. He mentioned proudly that it is his honor and pride to be part of their community. He thanked Kathy Lin and Muhammad Ali Bukhari for their invitation to their community events.
- Mr. Saras announced the increment of annual membership fees which is going to be $30.00 from January 1st, of 2010. He requested to contact him personally if anyone has a problem paying extra $5.00 so that he can set up special arrangements for their organization. All payments must be made by cheques payable to the NEPMCC. With this amount of money the members can also have a professional ID prepared for them, very useful for their business.
- On January 9th, it was the anniversary of the passing of Iraj Emad, a man, a colleague and a fellow member of the board who contributed his hard work and determination for the betterment of the Council until the last breath of his life. He was a great professional and a person who was committed to the Council. He opened his arms and reached beyond his religion and nationalistic ideas to serve the Council. He was our brother and his hard work and friendship left highly positive image behind him.
- We are trying to clear our books of accounts for the Seminar. By the end of January we must submit the final Report to the Ministry. After we submit our final report and receive the portion of the final payment from the Ministry, This is very important in order to pay all our debts to those who worked for the success of the conference although most of them have been already paid.
- We will start working to preparing a proposal for our next project. This project will be of similar capacity so that we can educate and provide training to more members of the Council and their respective organization.
- It was decided in our last meetings that $1,000.00 only was authorized to be spent out of the Council’s bank account for the Seminar Gala Dinner and Annual Get-Together Event. All extra expenses that were spent out of the official menu for these events were made by the President and his brother personally.
- Nomination process for the selection of the annual Awards is open. Please submit your nomination as soon as possible so that the Committee can start working. The President does not get involved in this process personally. So, the Committee is going to make their decision about who is going to receive awards according to information provided on the nomination form. Please fill all information requested on the form clearly. President is here to honor all the Publications of our member according to instructions of the members of the committee.
- We are receiving emails asking about the awards for Newspapers. There is no nomination process for the newspaper during the Award selection. But there is a committee of members under the Chairmanship of our Ombudsman Dr. Bikram Lamba. The other members of the Committee are: The director of Communications Department from the City Hall, Hassan Zerehi, the Senior Vice President ,Irene Keroglidis, VP Public Relations, Asha Rajak, VP Membership and Executive Secretary and Neel Nanda, Secretary General. In the second week of May, (May 9 to May 15), we plan to celebrate the International Media Week and organize an exhibition of our publications at the Rotunda of the Toronto City Hall. During this event the Committee is going to select 14 newspapers. Those who believe that their newspaper is unable to join us in that event and think that they deserve the recognition, they can submit three different copies of three different editions of their respective publication to this Committee as soon as possible.
- Besides the newspaper, we are giving 14 awards to individual members of various Communities. These awards are for the recognition of volunteer services these persons offered to their community, to arts, to letters, to sports, and to industry and Academia, and also who worked very hard contributing time, money and dedicated his/her life in the service of the members of their or the Canadian community in general. Please do not announce to your nominee that he/she is going to receive an award before the committee finalizes the list of award winners. You should submit the application to the committee and wait for the announcement. Along with these 14 awards for the individual members of the Community, we accept nominations for 6 Journalists to honor their dedication towards the field of Journalism. These awards are going to be presented on behalf of the Council by His Honor, the Lieutenant Governor. It’s the protocol office of the Lieutenant Governor who sends out the invitations to us directly. Each one of those who are going to receive an award has the right to submit separately three more names with full address to the office of the organization, the four names and addresses will be submitted to office of His Honor and they will mail out formal invitation at the address provided. It is recommended highly that all four names to be submitted separately so that no confusion be created as presence is only by personal invitation. Please visit our website and read the speech delivered by His Honor, the Lieutenant Governor, where he clearly states that there are thousands of organizations asking his office to organize an event like ours, but he says that he can only organize few out of that list of requests. His Honor has also mentioned that he is very proud to be associated with the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada. This year it is going to be the 8th year on row that his Honour is going to present these awards on behalf of our Council. Please make sure that the award winners and their guests are on business attire on the day of award ceremony. Previously we have had members who came with jeans, running shoes and open shirts. We would like to request you to respect the Office of our host and the rules and regulations as members of this respective organization and avoid any similar incident in the future.
- On the first of July we are planning to celebrate the Canada Day, same way like the previous years. A motion needs to be brought forward for the expense to be held by the office of the NEPMCC.
- We are going to participant at CNE also this year. On the last day of the event which is also known as “Multicultural Day”, we are organizing a show, this year in cooperation with the administration of the Canadian National Exhibition. Ms. Luba Cherny is In charge of this event for last few year. Please be in touch with her if you are interested to promote the folklore of your culture and bring your community to present during this day.
- The last Sunday of September we are participating in the ‘Word on the Street Festival’ which takes place around the of the Queen’s Park crescent . We will have our own pavilion. About Million people are participating and visiting the pavilions. We also have brochures and pamphlets explaining the role of the NEPMCC that we distribute during this event.
- The last week of October, either on Monday or Friday, we are going to have the Awards Ceremony, as I said earlier.
- Final one is the Annual Get-together in December as we have every year.
- Mr. Saras recognized the members who contributed their time and effort for the Council in the year 2009. He gave special thanks to members who were present at the meeting. They were Mr. Hai Tein Lin and Kathy Lin, Irene Keroglidis, Hassan Zerehi, Luba Cherny, Srimal Abeyewardene, Dr. Bikram Lamba, Dr. Mohammad Tajdolati, Muhammad Ali Bukhari and Asha Rajak. President gave special thanks to Asha Rajak for helping organize and collect revenue to pay expenses for the Seminar Gala Dinner and Annual Get-together events.
- Members of the Board of Directors who were not actively participating during the meetings and events are to be replaced. The president also requested that all members must respect the rules of the organization and be proud of their membership and association with this respectable organization.
- Media Passes issued by the Council is recognized by all Government agencies. You will be able to retain help from any government agencies, Policemen or visit different places like Royal Ontario Museum, Exhibition Place, Science Centre, Art Gallery of Ontario. It will also help you travel across the country and pass through the boarder. Please make sure that you make proper use of it and respect this media card.
Motion:
1. The Council unanimously approved that the President is authorized to spend on expenditure for the celebration of Canada Day on July 1st 2010.
2. Dr. Mohammad Tajdolati moved a motion to participate on ”the word on Street” and & Mr. Ahmad Shah Hotaki seconded it. The Council unanimously approved that the President is authorized to take necessary steps to participate the “Word of the Street” Festival.
3. Dr. Khan Monzoor-E-Khoda moved a motion to increase the annual Membership fees to $30.00 and & Srimal Abeyewardene ( Treasurer), seconded. The motion was carried unanimously.
4. Article 4C of the new constitution clearly states that any Member of the Board who is absent from the Board Meeting continuously for three months without any notice automatically stands removed from the board. To this extend there was a motion for the removal of a member of the board from office due to her absenteeism from the meetings for the last four months without any notification. The chairman of the meeting being also the Ombudsman of the organization, personally moved a motion to remove Ms. Raina Sen from the Board of Directors since she has been absent from the Board meetings without any previous notification. The motion was carried unanimously.
5. Mr. Bukhari expressed his grievances towards the Awards Committee, accusing the President as responsible for the fact of his exclusion from the business of the committee. The President argued that he has nothing to do with the business of the committee, as his Senior Vice President sits in the committee which chaired by the Ombudsman and therefore has nothing to do with him. Mr. Bukari, continued to attack the president with accusations, under the circumstances and in order to clear the situation the president moved a motion to dissolve all committees until the February meeting when the assembly will elect new members. The motion voted down by the majority of the members. The president said that he accepts the decision of the members of the board.
New Members:
Mr. Ronny Ahmed Chowdhury and Mr. Mehrub Rahman from “Weekly Aajkal”, The Bangla Voice of Canada
New Business:
6. Not withstanding any other item in the agenda the chair asked for a motion that the meeting adjourned until February the 8th, 2010.
Adjournment: Dr. Khan Khoda moved a motion to adjourn the meeting. Dr. Mohammad Tajdolati seconded it. The motion was carried. The Chair adjourned the meeting at 8:30 pm. The next meeting would take place on February 08, 2010.
