Minutes
of the monthly meeting held at Queen’s Park on May 08, 2006
Present:
Thomas
Saras
Sremal
Abeyawardene
Clyde McNeil
Hassan
Zerehi
Dr.
Bikram Lamba
Saeed
Soltanpour
Alidad
Mafinezam
Tania
Nuttall
Iraj
Emad
Taha
Hassaniani
Fred
Pountaheri
Trifon
Haitas
Irene
Keroglides
Massood
Mashadi
Antony
Joseph
Hassan
Zerehi
Neel
Nanda
Teshome
Woldeamanuel
Ahmade
Shah Hotaki
John
Saraidaris
Maryam
Aghvani
Hermie
Garcia
Mila
Garcia
Dumitru
Popescu
Ned
Blair
Emily
Mills
Emmanuel
Ayiku
Rahim
Moton
Elvira
Samaylenko
Luba
Cherny
Aris
Babikian
Absent
Kenrick
Bobb
Elizabeth
Wolski
Mona Feng
Special
Guests: Dr. Marie Bountrogianni- Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and
Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal, Government of Ontario
Agenda:
Opening
Remarks by the Chair
Minutes
of the previous meeting.
Presentation
by Hon: Dr. Marie Bountrogianni- Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and
Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal, Government of Ontario
Report
of the President
End
of meeting
Opening
Remarks by the Chair:
The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting
Minutes of the previous meeting:
Dr Lamba moved a motion to approve the minutes of the monthly meeting held on April 10, 2006. Masood Manzoorzadeh seconded it. The motion was carried.
Presentation by Hon: Dr. Marie Bountrogianni- Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal, Government of Ontario
Thomas
Saras, William –Doyle Marshall, Dr. Lamba, Srimal Abeyewardene, Adnan
Hashmi, Clyde McNeil, and other members participated in the discussion.
The
following is the summary of the presentations and discussions.
·
Fiscal imbalance is a fancy way of saying that the federal
government has more
money
than it needs to meet its responsibilities, for things like immigration
and
foreign
affairs, while the provinces and territories do not have enough money to
fulfill
their responsibilities, for big ticket items like health care, education,
and
municipal
services.
·
The fiscal imbalance undermines the ability of Ontario to invest in
the health and vitality of the people. It presents a constant challenge
for provinces to deliver important public services.
·
Minister to develop a solution that will benefit all Canadians.
·
The federal government has just put out a discussion paper on this
issue and will
be
consulting with Canadians and governments across the country over the
course
of the summer. NEPMCC was encouraged to engage in this dialogue, since it
is essential that the voice of the ethnic media be heard.
·
While the country’s fiscal arrangements affect all provinces and
territories, they are especially detrimental for Ontario.
·
There are needs in other provinces and every year, taxpayers in
Ontario send billions of dollars to other provinces to help fund their
schools and hospitals.
Ontario
is proud to support these services. Determining the need of the people in
Ontario, the provincial government wants to make sure it supports people
in the province
·
Every year, Ontario receives 140,000 new immigrants – over the
half the
Canadian
total. It is essential for Ontario to retain it’s own resources so that
each and every person who comes here has an opportunity to make a good
life for them and their family.
·
The Government of Ontario is committed in doing everything it can
to support immigrants, whether they arrived in Ontario 200 years ago or
200 days ago. Unfortunately, this has not been the case, as Ontarians have
been treated inequitably when it comes to receiving funds from most
federal programs.
·
Ontario currently receives $86 less per person to support health
care and post-secondary education and other programs than provinces that
receive equalization. This means there are, in effect, two equalization
programs – one that is visible to everyone, and one that’s hidden.
This is unfair and it must stop. All Canadians must be treated equally.
·
The Government of Ontario wants the federal government to treat all
Canadians equally.
·
Canadians living in Ontario currently put $4.7 billion into the
equalization
program.
That contribution has grown 30 per cent over the past four years, and is
scheduled
to grow at 3.5 per cent a year into the future – regardless of what
happens
to the economy.
·
There is no evidence the current size of the Equalization program
along with the
already
agreed upon growth, is
insufficient to meet the constitutional principle.
To
suggest that the province is not doing its part to support other regions
of the
country
does a disservice to the Ontario taxpayers who continue to pay into the
program
to support their fellow Canadians.
·
There is simply no principle-based rationale to ask Canadians who
live in Ontario
to
send more to other provinces, when we have such pressing needs here in
Ontario.
The old notion that if there is a problem in the country you can just take
more
money
from Ontario taxpayers and ship it to other parts of the country is no
longer
viable.
·
It is not that Ontario has had a change of heart, but Ontario,
Canada, and the
world
are vastly different places than when we put in place our fiscal
arrangements.
·
The old model was meant to create fairness across the country by
redistributing
wealth
generated from the have-provinces. This model is now actually creating
more unfairness than it is alleviating, and Canadians who live in Ontario
are experiencing this in a real way.
·
The bottom line is that federal transfers outside equalization –
including transfers
for
health, education, and infrastructure – should treat all Canadians
equally.
And
that all provinces need a greater share of resources to invest in their
future
prosperity.
·
The Province of Ontario is looking forward to working with federal,
provincial, and territorial partners to build a national consensus on
measures to address the fiscal imbalance.
·
The Government of Ontario is committed to finding solutions to the
fiscal imbalance that are worth for all Canadians, including those living
in Ontario.
Thomas Saras and the Chair of the meeting Clyde McNeil thanked the honourable minister for her time and hoped for future dialogue with the minister
Report
of the President/ Business Discussions.
· Thomas Saras informed the council that his office has engaged the PMO in dealing with Public Works regarding distribution of Government ads in ethnic publications.
· The Prime Minister will soon appoint a national commission in consultation with the ethnic media that will look into the distribution of Government advertising.
· Motion: Dr. Lamba moved a motion seconded by Masood Manzoorzadeh, that would authorize the President to take over the committee which deals with the Government affairs due to inaction and absence of the committee members. The motion was carried.
· The President invited all members for dinner at Palace Restaurant on May 12. Liberal leader Joe Volpe and Jim Karrigannis would be present in the gathering.
·
Iraj Emad and Maryam Aghvani informed the Council on the vigil for
the imprisoned Canadian-Iranian Scholar Ramin Jahanbegloo that would take
place on May 14
· The Council would draft a statement in support of the call to release the imprisoned Scholar in Iran.
· Mila Garcia would re-send the draft statement with regards to the killings and the treatment of journalists in the Philippines.
· Thomas Saras informed the council that United Nations is organizing a conference on Democracy and Good Governance under the auspices of the University for Peace and that the NEPMCC is one of the principals affiliated with this institution of the UN. The president of the organization will seat in the board of the institution. Thomas S. Saras said that he is looking to send three or four members to attend this institution hoping that eventually they will become leaders for democratic renewal in their country of origin.
· Anthony Joseph made a presentation on organizing a Canada Day parade in 2007 in partnership with the NEPMCC. Srimal Abeyawardene moved a motion seconded by Irene Keroglidis asking Anthony Joseph to submit a written proposal and council would look into it for any possible partnership.
.
End
of Meeting:
Maryam Aghvani moved a motion to adjourn the meeting and Hassan Zerehi seconded it. It was carried by all. The Chair adjourned the meeting at 9:45 p.m. The next meeting would take place on June 12, 2006 at Queen’s Park.
