Minutes
of the monthly meeting held at Queen’s Park on September 11, 2006
Present:
Thomas
Saras
Srmial
Abeyawardene
Clyde McNeil
Hassan
Zerehi
Dr.B.
Lamba
Aaron
Berhane
Irene
Keregolidis
Maryam
Aghvami
Taha
Hassaniani
Ahmed
Shah Hotaki
Fred
Pourtaher
William
Doyle Marshall
Mohamed
Tajdolati
Katapour
Pejman
Josivaldo
Rodrigues
Hasan
Yilmaz
Trifon
Haitas
Teshome
Woldeamanuel
Cindy
Gu
William
Boateng
Dumitru
Popescu
Massood
Mashadi
Saraidaris
John
Pooyan
Tabatabaci
David
Ferninands
Ranjir
Wickramasangir
Soo
Wong
Mona
Feng
Hermie
Garcia
Mila
Garcia
Emmanuel
Ayiku
Tanya
Nutal
Absent
Kenrick
Bobb
Tania Nuttall
Special
Guests:
Dr.
Digafie Debalke - Project
Officer, International Centre of UPEACE in Toronto.
Sue
( Candidate for Toronto District School Board, Scarborough- Agincourt)
Agenda:
Opening Remarks by the Chair
Minutes
of the Previous Meeting
Presentation by Dr.
Digafie Debalke - Project
Officer, International Centre of UPEACE in Toronto
President’s
Report/ Discussions
End
of meeting
Opening
Remarks by the Chair:
The chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked the members to approve the minutes of the previous monthly meeting, if there were no reservations.
Minutes
of the previous meeting:
Dr Lamba moved a motion to approve the minutes of the monthly meeting held on August 14, 2006. Hassan Zerehi seconded it. The motion was carried.
Presentation
by Dr.
Digafie Debalke - Project
Officer, International Centre of UPEACE in Toronto.
Dr.Digafie
and the rest of his team from UPEACE Canad made a presentation, followed
by roundtable discussions. Thomas Saras, William –Doyle Marshall, Dr.
Lamba, Srimal Abeyewardene, Irene Keregolodis, Maryam Aghvami, William
Doyle Marshall, Hassan Yilmaz, Hermie Garcia, Clyde McNeil, Stephanie
Williams and other members participated in the discussion.
The following is the summary of the presentations and discussions
In July 2005, the University for Peace (UPEACE) started the preparatory work to launch an International Centre of UPEACE in Canada that would provide a focus for education, training and dialogue on critical issues related to the building of peace and the prevention of violence and conflict. The establishment of an International Centre of UPEACE in Canada was endorsed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his 9 March 2004 address to Canada's Parliament, noting it as a further advance in Canada's pioneering contributions to global conflict prevention and peacebuilding. On 20 July 2004, Canada's then-Prime Minister Paul Martin announced his support of the establishment of the Centre as a part of the federal government's commitment to Toronto's waterfront revitalization.
It is envisaged that a UPEACE International Centre in Canada would contribute to UPEACE's central mission to strengthen education for peace globally, in particular, by:
* Leveraging North American experience and expertise to enrich the worldwide education, training and research programmes of UPEACE and its partners.
* Reinforcing and amplifying the capacity of North American institutions engaged in formal, informal or non-formal education for peace.
* Developing and delivering high quality programmes of education and training on strategic themes related to building peace, lessening violence and managing conflict.
· Expanding the opportunities and channels available for the Canadian public to participate in formal and non-formal education for peace
· UPEACE would undertake a joint venture with NEPMCC to fulfill its objectives
A small secretariat has been established in Toronto to undertake the preparatory work towards launching a UPEACE International Centre in Canada.
Thomas Saras and the
Chair of the meeting Clyde McNeil thanked the guests for their time and
promised all possible help in disseminating the information of their
programs and curriculum to the readership of ethnic publications and hoped
for increased advertising and sustained cooperation to serve the
communities of Canada.
President’s
Report/Discussions
· Government run advertising on National child -care was not evenly distributed in the ethnic media.
· The President has been in touch with Laurent Marcoux of Public Works Canada to protest against the unfair distribution of Government run Child -Care campaigns.
· Thomas Saras stressed the importance of proper dress code for the L.G award ceremony.
· The citizenship ceremony on August 24 at the CNE was a grand success.
· Thomas Saras praised Hassan Yilmaz, Sharam Sharehi, Irene Keroglidis, and the rest of the committee members for their hard work in the citizenship ceremony
· The official photographers at the award ceremony would only be authorized to take pictures for the function and record the function.
· Maryam Aghvami would be announcing the names of the awardees during the function
· Only members who had RSVP their intention of attending the function would be able to seat during the function. Members who have not RSVP their invitation can come to the function but would not get the seat.
· The office space for NEPMCC in City Hall would be cleared once the National Post evacuates from the City Hall.
· The food menu for the citizenship ceremony on August 24 was prepared taking into consideration the religious sentiments of various communities.
· There will be family dinner for the members of NEPMCC in the month of October , honouring some of the member publications in that event..
· Tanya Nutall, Irene Keregolidis, Cindy Gu, Almeire Santos and Maryam Aghvami did an excellent job of welcoming guests during the citizenship ceremony at the CNE.
· Maryam Aghvami made great a presentation on behalf of the NEPMCC at the citizenship ceremony on August 24
· The Federal Minister for External Affairs Hon: Peter MacKay would come for a Round Table discussion with members of the NEPMCC, hopefully in one of the monthly meetings this year.
· Thomas Saras suggested the annual book, which would be published next year, would feature stories of the members of NEPMCC and their publications and their contribution in serving their respective communities.
·
Thomas Saras would have an operation on the 15th of
September, he would resume duties immediately if the operation goes
successful.
New
Business:
·
Sue made a presentation to the council on the reasons she is
running for the Toronto District Board (Scarborough –Agincourt). Her
experience as a former trustee to the school board and her teaching
experience in Community College gives her the edge over other candidates.
·
She listed her priorities , should she be elected to the School
Board.
·
She diligently answered all questions posed to her by the members
of the NEPMCC.
New
Members:
The chair welcomed the following new members to the council
Michelle Williams- Director and Producer, Music Flava TV
Sherlana Wade –Host, Music Flava TV
Katayaun Pejman – Freelance Writer (English Persian, French)
Hossain Tojada – Persian TV
The chair hoped that the new members would be active participants for the cause of the ethnic media industry.
End
of Meeting:
Srimal Abeyewardene moved a motion to adjourn the meeting and Dr.Lamba seconded it. It was carried by all. The Chair adjourned the meeting at 9:45 p.m. The next meeting would take place on October 16, 2006 at Queen’s Park.
