Minutes of the Monthly Meeting held on March 08, 2010 at Queen’s Park

 

Present:

Thomas S. Saras

Ahmed Hotaki

Bikram Lamba

Spataru Iosif

Spataru Mario

Syleyman Guven

Neel Nanda

Mohamed Tajdolati

Ahmed Shah Hotaki

Asha Rajak

Dumitru Popescu

Abdul Syed  Aajkal

Ismael Sombra

Viara Dimitrova

Teshome Woldeamanuel

Ned Blair

Khan Khoda, Dr.

Aaron Berhane

Fereydoon Rahmani

Raffi Boghossiah

Juhani Ministro

Muluken Machie

Shrimal Abeyewardene

Lankesh  Pathmanathan

Riaz Hussain – Pakistan Abroad

Sunny Rao

Edward Giwelo

Kevin Wang

Logan Logendralingam

Trifon Haitas

Bahram Bahrami

Dumitru Popesku

Srimal Abeyawardene

Emmanuel Ayiku

John Saraidaris

Hossein Pourhaider

Luba Cherny

 

Agenda

1.      Welcome Remarks by the chair.

2.      Minutes of the previous meeting.

3.      Presentation by Mayoral Candidate Rocco Achampong

4.      Presidents Report

5.      New Business (Motions)

6.      Adjournment

 

 

Welcome Remarks by the Chair:

 

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

Suleiman Guven moved a motion to approve the agenda of the meeting. Asha Rajak 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 February 8, 2010. Asha Rajak seconded it. The motion was carried.

Dr. Lamba drew the attention to the Canada Day Celebration and revisited the issue of complimentary tickets among other things and suggested a token fee of $10 for participation. This will increase the seriousness of the event. Ned Blair, chair of the Canada Day Dinner Committee, submitted his proposal to the council. They were as follows:

  • Give the date, the time, the venue, and the ticket price

  • Number of persons will be limited to 220 on a first come basis

  • Encourage members to bring their children

  • Orders for tickets will be taken at the March meeting

  • Tickets will be available at the April meeting

  • Payment is required when the tickets are given

  • Payment must be made by check only

  • No tickets will be given out without payment

  • Not needed tickets must be turned in at the June meeting. The space and the tickets will be needed for resale to other members who need tickets.

  • The committee is seeking ethnic entertainment so please tell us about performers from your respective communities 

Suleiman Guven moved a motion to approve the proposal- The motion was carried unanimously. 

.

Presentation by Mayoral Candidate.- Rocco Achampong

 

·         He began by thanking the President for accommodating his request to address the council. Khan Khoda, Feredun Rahmani, Aaron Mefith, Suleiman Guven and other members participated in the discussion following his presentation. The following are the highlights of his presentation and discussion.

 

·         The campaign for Mayor began on February 1st. Toronto has indeed matured to include all cultures under one flag. He has put his foot forward on radio and cultural events and he wants to reach to as many citizens as possible. Rocco Achampong born on December 25, 1978 to an immigrant family from Ghana.

 

Some of the issues discussed were:

·        Two year freeze on transit fares

·        Transit city enhanced with a subway component

·        Ensure full accessibility for wheel chairs and strollers

·        We will streamline inefficient aspects of our operations and reconsider capital commitments that create unnecessary debt.

·        We are encouraged by the province's promise to assume responsibility for many of the social housing units downloaded during the Harris Premiership.  We will work to accelerate the upload.

·        We must become a destination of choice for North American dollars going to Europe to experience what their liberties permit

·        Toronto must become just as free to permit and support individual innovation and creativity and that will mean making tough decisions consistent with the freedoms guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

President Thomas Saras thanked Rocco Achampong for his presentation.

Following this Samuel Getachew candidate for Ward 43 in Toronto made a very brief presentation to the council and requested to pass on his message to the readership of the council.

President’s Report/Discussions:

 

·        President Thomas Saras explained how members are eligible for tax exemptions (PST &GST) for their respective publications.

·        Thomas Saras informed the members of the Council that Ethnic Media has been exempted from HST. This has been a significant achievement for ethnic media

·         President Thomas Saras informed the Council that payment has been made towards Word on the Street Festival.

·        NEPMCC received an invitation from UNESCO for a conference on Media Statistics to be held in  Montreal 

·        Ethnic Press exhibition would take place on the week of May 9-May16 at City Hall. NEPMCC is working very hard to declare the week as the week of Ethnic Media by City Hall. There were numerous discussions related to this very important event.

·        Media passes to be renewed for 2 years for  $60, which is the membership fees of the council for a two year term.

·        Some payments made by some of the members towards the educational and training seminar held in November, 2009 were returned due to NSF. This really hurt the treasury of the Council as it had already incurred additional expenditure for the event. Those members defaulting from the payment would be contacted and the Council suggested to charge a fee of $5 as recovery cost which is paid to the bank.

·        Srimal Abeyewardene urged members to issue proper cheques.

·        Dinner tickets of the Canada Day celebration would be distributed in the next meeting.

·        Motion President Thomas Saras suggested that the Council could give a unique gift to the LT. Governor during this year’s events. NEPMCC would sponsor a portrait drawn by a professional artist. Suleiman Guven seconded it and the motion was unanimously carried.   

New Business:

Deshi TV launches online newspaper, which is video and audio based and Dr. Khan Khoda described it as a “talking newspaper”

There would be protest march near Queens Park in March 2010 to show solidarity with journalists jailed in Cuba.

 

 

 

 

Adjournment: Mohammad Tajdolati moved a motion to adjourn the meeting. Suleiman Guven seconded it. The motion was carried. The chair adjourned the meeting at 9 pm. The next meeting would take place on April 12, 2010