NATIONAL
ETHNIC PRESS AND MEDIA COUNCIL OF CANADA
Conseil
national de la press et des medias ethniques du Canada
Canada’s
Other Voices
November
19, 2007 Meeting Minutes
Queens
Park - committee room # 230
The
meeting called for 5:30
Present:
Thomas
S. Saras
Clyde
McNeil
Dr.
Bikram Lamba
Tanas
Jovanovski
Iraj
Emad
Dumitru
Popescu
Danielle
Zhu
Neel
Nanda
Ahmad
Hotaki
Massood
Mashadi
Iqbal
Khosla
Josivaldo
Rodriques
Irene
Keroglidis
Teshome
Woldeamanuel
Mohammad
Tajdolati
Sima
Saher Zerehi
Kathy
L. L. Lin
Hai
Tien Lin
Hassan
Zerehi
Bahram
Bahrami
Alamgir
Hussain
Mila
Artega-Garcia
Hermie
Garcia
Shabnam
Janani
Ranjit
Wicks
Davis
Ferdinands
Maryam
Aghvami
Luba
Cherny
Ned
Blair
Aaron
Behrane
Absenteeism:
AGENDA
1.
A call to order by the Chair
·
Meeting called to
order
2.
Welcome Remarks by the Chairman and
meeting called to order
·
Welcome remarks
3.
Minutes Approved from Previous
Meeting
·
Dr. Lamba motion to
approve, Mr. Soltanpour seconded, all in favor
·
Chair accepted vote
to approve minutes
·
Remarks made about
making sure to add names to agenda items in the future
·
Secretary requested
that members state their names before making comments & moving
agenda items
4.
Reports by the President:
4a.
President was received by Public Works and Government Services of Canada
·
Mr. Saras states
stated that this is the ministry responsible for Government ads
·
They discussed the
eligibility criteria for media plan cost guides to ensure that it is
transparent
·
President wants to
make sure that Federal institutions, the private sector as well as the
industry are consulted
·
3 elements are
being considered: eligibility, evaluation and cost guide
·
Some changes
include the fact that the publicist statement will have to be sworn
under oath and a more complete information list will be required on the
circulation
·
The major change
will be the requirement of a signature from a notary public
·
The 3 latest issues
of each publication must be submitted for circulation confirmation
·
The invoices of the
last 3 issues must be submitted
·
Questionnaires will
reach members from December to February
·
The printer
invoices will be required for last 3 months to confirm circulation
·
Also the government
has stated that newspapers should not have more than 70% advertising
including ads on the cover
·
The page layout
must be handled electronically
·
The format must be
tabloid or broadsheet
·
The government has
promised funds to educate media members on these specifications
·
The publication
must have 8 pages minimum – NEPMCC suggested minimum 16 pages
·
President will
contact government to speak about this issue and re-stress 10 page
minimum
·
Newspapers with
audited circulation will be identified with year of publication and
ratio of advertisements to content
·
A community survey
can also be asked for – it will cost $2,000 - $5,000 – the President
will attempt to request funds for this purpose – to enlist community
opinions regarding the publications
·
Effective
immediately copies of the letter and questionnaire will be emailed to
all members by President
·
Mr. President will
request that Dr. Lamba or the Chair be accepted as Oath Officers to
verify signatures
5.
Member Survey and Educational
Sessions
·
Short briefing from
Sharifa from Balmoral was made
·
They called 3-400
people to update members list for survey
·
Report will be
submitted to Heritage Canada and final report will be given to Minister
of Culture
·
Beginning of the
year the NEPMCC asked the government to accept the industry
·
If numbers are low
a phone survey will follow the online survey
·
For any questions
or to update contact info email johnson@balmoralmkt.com
5a.
Additional remarks about survey by President:
·
After many
consultations & Ottawa visits the NEPMCC received a letter last
month to start working on this issue
·
The government send
the President a contract
·
The council had
asked for $55,000 for phase one to prepare a questionnaire
·
Government said
they could give $35,000 and stipulated that questionnaire must be
conducted by a professional company and must be approved by the
government
·
Balmoral worked
with council to create questionnaire
·
Gov wanted to
review questions, President set deadline for end of January
·
Concerned that
there will be no time for phase two the educational for Ethnic Press
Journalists
·
The survey will
determine what members need
·
Members will
receive the survey via email and be directed to a web-link
·
If you complete the
survey early you will be entered into a draw for a laptop
·
As soon as survey
is completed we can move to phase two
·
The PM’s office
called the President and asked for the cost assessment of phase two, he
was told $200-$250,000
·
NEPMCC will issue
certificated or diplomas for those who complete the educational
·
Seneca College will
be responsible for accreditation
·
Educations will
likely take place on a weekend to ensure that all can attend
5b.
Questions regarding survey:
·
Chair asked if
questions will be weighed – response was no
·
Sima asked if
report will be circulated to members – response was no but it will be
discussed and a top-line summary will be made to NEPMCC members
·
Dr. Tajdolati asked
how electronic media will be categorized – response was audience ship
·
Aaron Berhane asked
if members were consulted on the survey questions
·
Response was that
elected executive was consulted on the questions
6.
Annual Get Together in December
·
Mr. Zerehi prepared
the tickets
·
The Premiere will
be the guest speaker
·
The PM’s office
will also send a Minister to the event
·
Leaders of all
parties are invited
·
All members should
plan to attend and bring guests
7.
PST issue
·
NEPMCC was close to
resolving issue with former Finance Minister Greg Sorbaro
·
We now have a new
Minister of Finance and new obstacles
·
Mr. Jerry Phillips
also promised resolution on the PST issue
8.
Report on Presidents Meeting
in Vancouver
·
Recently president
flew to Vancouver for a meeting
·
There was some
tension and serious debate with bureaucrats
·
The Minister of
Justice sent a letter to the President on subject of accusations and
pressures
·
The Minister of
Multiculturalism has to establish a criteria and function according to
criteria
9.
New Business/Motions:
9a.
Report back from Award Ceremony
·
Dr. Lamba stated
that ceremony was well done
·
Dr. Lamba submitted
to Council that we should make the awards more meaningful and submitted
to the President to reduce number of wards in the future
·
This year we gave
48 awards, Dr. Lamba and President agreed on 20 awards next year (10 to
publications and 10 to individuals)
·
In the future
proper credentials must be given with the nominations
·
Each community
should be represented in the awards/ but not possible to award all
nominees
·
President remarked
that a number of nominations came very late and even some were being
requested the day before the award ceremony
·
Greater care must
be taken in names as President had to remake plaques
9b.
Raising Support for Bangladesh
·
Mr. Alamgir wants
to raise support for victims in Bangladesh to deal with disaster and
rescue efforts
·
Chair conveyed
condolences to Mr. Alamgir and his family and conveyed the sympathy of
the members of NEPMCC
·
Mr. Alamgir will
forward President information of donating to the Red Cross Relief Fund
efforts – Mr. Saras will forward to members for publication
9c.
Placing Telephones on Silent or Vibrate
·
Mr. Ned commented
on disruption to meetings from telephone rings
·
He stated that
silencing phone rings should be enforced
9d.
Members of NEPMCC running in elections
·
Mr. Ned asked if
the council know about one of the members running in the previous
Provincial election – members said no – as the information was not
shared at a monthly meeting
·
NEPMCC did not run
any candidates in previous elections
10.
ADJOURNMENT
The
Next meeting is scheduled for Monday, December 10, 2007, Queen’s
Park, committee room N# 2, first floor, Please after 6:00 pm enter the
building from the front south door, (next to the Main entrance of the
building).
