NATIONAL
ETHNIC PRESS AND MEDIA COUNCIL OF CANADA
Conseil
national de la press et des medias ethniques du Canada
Canada’s
Other Voices
April
14, 2008 Meeting Minutes
Meeting
Location: Main Legislative Building, committee room # 2
The
meeting called for 6:00
Present:
Thomas
S. Saras
Bikram
Lamba
Ahmad
Shah Hotaki
Clyde
McNeil
Nasrim
Daneshvar
Iraj
Emad
Suleyman
Gover
Neel
Nanda
Mona
Feng
Seed
Soltanpoyr
Mohammad
Tajdolati
Ranbir
Chauhan
Raina
Sen
Bahram
Bahrami
Dumitru
Popescu
Nassim
Daneshvar
Halini
Mohammad Amir
Massood
Mashadi
Ned
Blair
Thomas
Jovanovski
Hai-Tien
Lin
John
Saraidaris
Shan
Chandra
Logan
Longendarin
Hassan
Zerehi
Sheid
Farehadbadi
Luba
Cherny
David
Ferndinands
Shrimal
Abeyewardene
Alamgir
Hussien
Hermie
Garcia
Mila
Astroga Garcia
Jan
Jelief
Teshome
Worldeamanuel
C.
Senthi
Simar
Zerehi
AGENDA
1.
A call to order by the Chair
2.
Motion to Approve the Agenda
·
Moved by Dr. Lamba
seconded by Mr. Emad, all in favour
3.
Welcome Remarks by the Chair
·
Welcome remarks cut
short for the early arrival of the Minister Chan.
4.
Report By President
·
Invitation to Prime
Minister to come to City Hall at end of June or beginning of July
·
The
Prime Minister may attend during the opening of the NEPMCC event in
City Hall
·
May 12, 2008 Mr.
Scott Shortlife – Director of the Department of Publications Assistance
Program, Canadian Heritage, will attend.
·
End of April the
survey will be completed and final report will be submitted
·
We are going to apply
for more funds to re-educate the members
·
The report will be
submitted to Ottawa perhaps in person by Mr. Saras
·
Canadian National
Exhibition was told that this year the Citizenship ceremony will not be
supported by NEPMCC – as not many members are attending or covering the
event
5.
Presentations:
3a.
Hon. Michael Chan, Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
·
Minister asked
Council members to introduce themselves
Minister’s
Address to Council:
·
Delighted to be here,
to have opportunity to meet all
·
Media plays an
important role
·
New census reflected
the degree of growth of Ethnic Community
·
Ethnic media are more
and more important
·
World is getting
smaller in part due to media
·
Fiber of this country
is changing with more and more immigrants
·
I wish that you are
all publishing faster, more accurate and getting information to your
communities
·
We appreciate the
work the media is doing – to help us do our job the right way
·
Want to acknowledge
the voice of ethnic media
·
As an immigrant-
based on my accent you can tell my first language is not English nor
French
·
I know the importance
of getting news in own language
·
You help new
Canadians understand and connect
·
Help mainstream
Canada understand immigrants
·
Diversity
growing rapidly
·
Statistics Can
reported that Canadians have ties to over 200 countries, in Ontario
¼ are immigrants
·
Markham 65% visible
minorities
·
2 fronts economic and
social integration of newcomers, each year 130,000 newcomers in Ontario
·
We want newcomers to
be at home in Ontario
·
Since 2003 our
government has invested $53 million in funding to bridging projects
·
Ontario is helping
newcomers to find jobs
·
Giving newcomers
ability to put their skills to work – leading by example
·
We tool
internationally trained individuals as interns
·
73% of interns found
jobs
·
In Ontario important
to speak French and English we invested more than $53 million on ESL
·
Trainings available
on website
·
Classes listed on
website
·
2005 Canada-Ontario
Immigration Agreement
·
Increase funding for
settlement and language training
·
Best interest of
newcomers
·
Allows us to make
important progress
·
Promoting diverse
volunteer leadership such as ABC GTA project
·
41 candidates from
diverse backgrounds have been appointed on different boards
·
Have set programs to
engage youth
·
OCASI joint work to
promote volunteering
·
Proud to represent
Ontario
·
Want newcomers to
feel at home
·
When newcomers
succeed Ontario Succeeds
Q
& A:
Q:
Dr. Lamba askes: Immigration policy of any policy has to be dovetailed in
holistic manner, you are telling us that vast majority of immigrants come
to Ontario, over 139,00 jobs lost in past year, with larger influx of
immigrants and increased job loss what are we going to do?
A:
Issue of job loss is part of a bigger issue, the job loss is the
manufacturing jobs. Since
2003 this governement has created many new jobs.
The world economy and job situation is changing.
It is not just Canada, even US and China are losing manufacturing
jobs. In reality we created a
lot of jobs. There are still
jobs available for newcomers, we just have to match them to the available
jobs.
Q:
Is there any statistics on the sunshine list for new immigrants?
A:
Through my ministry I have non, we had a challenge issue last year and the
decision was that we would not have any end year funding
Q:
Success of your government in terms of immigration, Toronto Star 2
days ago wrote that 1/5 children go to bed without sufficient food,
poverty is the main issue in Ontario and the GTA, Can you explain why this
happens? Many immigrants are
moving to other provinces because of job losses and lack of opportunities?
Do you have any legislation to keep them in Ontario
A:
Since 2003 when Liberal became government, the situation was that school
and hospital system in chaos, infrastructure was left behind.
Every year our budget has a addressed the various issues, this year
we are addressing poverty. I
am on a committee addressing this issue.
The determination is there. We
recognize that poverty is an issue, also for newcomers.
In terms of immigrants moving s away, we cannot control immigrants
destinations, every year more than half of immigrants still choose Ontario
as their destination. The
450,000 jobs created address this need.
We are retaining immigrants in this province.
Q:
A:
Commend Minster of Immigration Diane Finley for taking steps to speed up
backlog – I think this is a good measure.
I also expressed my concerns such as lack of consultation.
Many are surprised. I also had a concern on the issue of temporary
workers and the fact that temporary workers can become undocumented, and
this can be a burden on our society.
The third concern is about transparency and equality.
I wanted to let Minister Finley know that no group or class will be
disadvantaged in favour of another. I
want to see skill, and unskilled workers addressed. I will be keeping
continual dialogue in terms of what to do next in terms of the.
I have not encouraged Federal Liberals to vote against these
amendments. Regarding the
PNP, Ontario is not the only Province, everyone has different ways of
carrying out this program. By
September Minister Finely wants to see uniformity.
PNP started as a pilot in May and the year is not over, we have
over 200 employer qualified, we have close to 100 applicants and approved
near 100, The program takes
time, it takes 9 months to process. So
far our number is higher than 1st year for other provinces.
Q:
How much money does Ontario get per new immigrant and how do you spend it?
A:
We were pushing Fed government to address underfunding, $920 million over
5 years. 2007, and 2006 $150
million - $100 million on language training – the balance of newcomer
settlement and training. Federal
money is only for new immigrants not refugees or citizens.
Q:
Ministry should use media as a resource.
Newspapers have advertising by government but not about services
that can help immigrants. The message is not reaching communities.
One reason for child poverty is lack of access to decent jobs.
We need to integrate this information.
We are losing money and brain power.
Social integration needs to happen.
We need support as ethnic media to help carry the message from
government and vice versa.
A:
total funding is spent for Settlement Agencies and the Global Experience
Ontario to help newcomers. We passed Bill 124 – in position to receive report by
Commissioner Augustine in May for potential recognition.
We also have bridging of jobs.
In terms of providing services Ontario government is working really
hard. We understand the
challenges.
Q:
How are new immigrants faring in Ontario, including on issues of housing?
Many are unable to secure good employment, and are working at
McDonalds. Are we handing
people who are suitable to Canada?
A:
We have assessment that Federal government administers. Newcomers, before coming to Canada, have to study.
Coming to a new country is a challenge.
Newcomers should study and compare Canada with other countries.
Australia and London are beating us for recruitment of new immigrants
because they are processing applications faster.
Q:
Big issue between Tibet and China. How
is this going to effect the Canadian immigration issue as it stands right
now?
A:
I see no impact, this is unrelated. In
terms of coming to country I have confidence in Federal government to
process applications.
Q:
Do you have any plans in regards to undocumented workers?
There are many undocumented workers.
A:
We are aware of the issue on a Provincial level, but we have no plans.
This is more of a Federal issue.
I have no information for you.
Q:
There are problems, lately. The
problem is not the money for training or retraining, but some or many
people are taking programs and courses and many paying for these programs
only to find at the end that there is no place for them to get Canadian
experience and practice. In
this organization we have many young people, we have sent a number of them
to attend retraining programs, but young people are still being left with
no jobs. Don’t do you think
that government needs to ensure that there are enough positions for
students once they complete training or education.
We need to be connecting with businesses to provide on-the-job
experience. We don’t want
to scare you, there are certain things that we have to do, this is not
just $150 million, but we also need to find positions and jobs for young
people.
A:
The government is spending $300 Million both Federal and
Provincial. There are many
problems. Other than
government spending money we actually engage the private sector.
The Bank is the major form of participation.
Yes, we are connecting the newcomers to the prospective private
sector.
3b.
Hon. Olivia Chow, NDP Critic of Citizenship and Immigration
Address
to Council:
·
Thank you for taking
the time to allow me to talk to you
·
I really want to talk
to you tonight about are the immigration changes under C-50
·
Imbedded in section 6
– we have 3 fundamental changes to immigration
·
The first one talks
about the Minister having the capacity to change the rules and move
categories of people ahead of others
·
She also had capacity
to throw out and not process application
·
Also capacity to
favour certain categories
·
The 2nd
change is cases under Humanitarian and Compassionate Grounds for refugee
children
·
Third change, if
applicant meets all criteria, the old rule would say that Minister shall
give you a Visa, now it says the Minister may issue – which means she
does not have to issue a Visa – it also means that Minister will be
above the law and her rule cannot be challenged
·
In House of Commons
the Bill has had 1st and 2nd reading – Last
Thursday my amendment to repeal C-50 did not pass – On Thursday many
Liberal decided to not vote – The Bill passed 2nd reading –
The bill is now before the Finance Committee
·
We now have motion to
take immigration part out of budget implementation Bill
·
I want to urge you to
place this as priority in your publications
Q
& A:
Q:
What is the chance to pass the motion, considering that NDP is a minority
and the Liberals are not ready for election?
A:
That’s a very good question, but it is up to you, the Bloc and NDP
together do not have enough votes to pass this motion, but if some
Liberals vote with us. I
think this is important – I put my job on the line.
It’s democracy, you can’t predict who is going to get elected
Q:
This is a deliberate attempt to streamline the system – look at the
backlog. Should you as an
immigration critic, ensure that the attack against the bill be targeted
and only oppose the parts that are problematic
A:
Unfortunately the conservatives did not give us option to amend the bill,
we can’t pick and chose. We were told you have to take it or leave it.
There was no consultation. The
Minister says it is all about the 900,000 backlog.
The huge cut in 90’s of visa offices caused this.
However, the bill that is being passed won’t have impact on the
backlog; it will deal with future applications.
We all want to streamline, by hiring staff and listing desired
categories.
Q:
What is the real motivation behind this?
A:
There is always a reason, I am not a Conservative I ama far from being
one. The Minister and the
Conservatives want a lot of cheap labour. If you look at today’s Calgary Herald you see the need for
cheap, temporary labour for oil. My
vision of Canada is not just workers, but families and children.
That’s’ why family reunification is important.
The NDP wants to expand family reunification.
This is about cheap labour and it will lower the wages for
everybody.
Q:
As publishers and editors of ethnic papers we are here but we can
different political views. I
was invited by Minister Finley to her office – about 10 Ethnic media
members were there. She
stated that they are going to hire not only professionals but also as
cooks. I published the
article. A few weeks later
Jim Karigianis and he said that these amendments are going to be harmful
– I also published that. What
do you think
A:
The point system has to change – the chefs are going to come as
temporary foreign workers – they can’t come here as immigrants –
they are here under employers and can be deported at any time – I will
be the first to change the point system
Q:
I think that this will assist the poverty issue in Canada,
temporary workers means that we don’t have to budget for them and
provide them with services.
A:
We know that having families means that we adopt a lot faster – families
support each other.
In Alberta we have whole town where single men work – living as
temporary workers. It reminds me of the Chinese who came here to build the
railroads. We need to learn
from history
Q:
Can you propose a motion to increase number of people to process
applications? Why is the NDP active to get the community to wake-up?
A:
We have flyers in different languages about this Bill and why they are
terrible, we also have petitions on our website about this bill in several
languages – we also have several motions.
We want people to come and speak at Committee level about why this
Bill is terrible. We cannot bring a money bill in house of commons.
Q:
Harper government is in power because of the NDP
A:
We cannot alone take the Harper government down – the Canadian people
voted for them
Q:
Why are employers insisting on temporary Foreign workers if they
ultimately want permanent residency
A:
Employers can pick and chose – they can say which country they want –
what salary they want to pay – most of these workers don’t know their
rights – many of them also paid a great deal of money to recruiters
overseas – therefore if they speak against poor working conditions they
will face deportations and dept – number of landed immigrants has
decreased but number of permanent residents has decreased
Q:
What about the internal backlog?
A:
There is a huge backlog on refugee and undocumented workers – the
refugee backlog is growing from 20 to 50,00o plus and expected to grow to
80,000
6.
Report By President Continued
·
Many members have
called to provided apologies for not attending, this means that we will be
less than our regular numbers
·
We need to take
ourselves and our meetings seriously
·
Luba has volunteered
to organize a pavilion for ethnic press
·
Each one of us must
make sure that we have a number of publications from each community
represented
·
We are going to have
45 tables available – each community will have their own publication
·
Monday July 7, make
sure that we each bring at least 50 people from our community
·
If we do this the
rotunda of City Hall will be full, and we will create a great impression
·
Luba will work with
others to present a cultural component and Ministers and other politicians
will be there
·
If we want mainstream
media to pay attention we have to fill-up the area in City Hall
·
The mayor is also
going to contribute with some refreshments and I will also provide
pastries and ask you all to also contribute
·
We will pay for some
of the food
·
I am making an appeal
– please start working on this event – we only have 60 days
·
All publications must
bring as many papers as possible
·
We have invited
Cossette Media, the Minister of Immigration, MBS, Minister of Culture, and
others
·
These people should
see the crowds that Ethnic Media can attract
·
CHIN and Fairchild
will be covering the event, as well as others
·
Multicom media will
also participate
·
Clyde and the
committee are organizing this not I, but it is our responsibility to
establish ourselves
·
We have invited the
Mayor, the Governor General the Premiere, the Prime Minister – I hope
that each one of you will volunteer
·
We will have music
and a rich cultural presentations
·
This event will be
from Monday July 7 – 12, 2008
7.
City Hall Exhibition Report by Clyde
·
Each newspaper must
bring down two copies of their favourite copies
·
The deadline for
mounting is May 12 – for mounting – we need one or two newspapers –
the cover or the entire paper
·
Please make sure to
mail to take to City Hall office
·
Address to send:
NEPMCC, P.O. Box 266 Station O, Toronto ON, M4A 2N3
·
The Phillipino
Reporter has already submitted their paper for mounting
·
The first day will
include the Mayor and the dignitaries
·
It is important that
we make a major impact
·
We are planning on
going to Statistics Canada to get profile of the various ethnic
communities to include in the display
·
If your community can
provide some cultural entertainment we will be happy – we now only have
3 days filled
·
The police will be
there, after the first day we will also cover different issues
8.
Minutes from Last meeting
·
Dr. Lamba moves to
approve, Iraj seconded, all in favour
9.
New Business/Motions:
9a.
Dr. Lamba wants issue of Directors who have missed 3 to 4 meetings
and according to bi-laws must be removed
·
Chair poses two
options, 1. To defer to authority of Ombudsman, 2. To come to this next
meeting
Motion
to look into option number two to look at this issue at next meeting
·
Passed by majority
Discussion:
·
Some members of
executive have not been present for many meetings, some have not attended
since election
·
The senior-vice
president has been away without notice
·
We need to see this
as our organization
·
One member is in
China and has sent her husband
·
Some members have
been coming from far distances and despite very busy schedules
·
Despite illness many
members have continued to attend
Chair
abdicates position to President to make remarks
·
If members submit
regret it cannot be considered an absence
·
It is the job of the
Secretary to address this issue not the Ombudsmen
·
Than that issue has
be addressed with the person absent
·
Lets not use this
issue as a witch-hunt
Chair
resumes his role
10.
July 1st Dentonnia Park (Victoria Park and Danforth)
·
Family picnic please
attend
·
5pm the celebration
starts for Canada Day
11.
Fundraising event for candidacy on July 27
·
Ellas Banquet Hall
dinner
12.
ADJOURNMENT
The
Next meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 12, 2008, Committee Room #2 of
the Main Legislative building, Queen’s park, Toronto. Our meeting for
June 9, 2008 is also going to take place as planned in Committee room #2
of the Main Legislative building in Queens Park, Toronto.
