Minutes of the Monthly Meeting held on December 12, 2011 at Committee Room No 2, Queens Park

Present:

Thomas S. Saras

Bikram Lamba, Dr.

Muse Kulow

Teshome Woldeamanuel

Ahmad Shah Hotaki

Irene Keroglidis

Mohammad Bagher Samimi

Suleyman Guven

Mohammad Tajdolati

Ranjit Wicks

Nishantha Don

Parry Long

William Doyle-Marshall

A. Janus Randkivi

Ned Blair

Michael Shiravand

Sima Sahar Zerehi

Mark Golden

Slagoja Ristic

C.    Senthi

A.    Rostamijam

Ommed Mahboub ITC_TV

Srimal Abeyewardene

Hretch Aynedjian

Raffi D. Boghossian

Susana Donan

Jose Ernesto Donan

Ramnath Eesswaran

Jonathan Annobil

Charles Devasaguya

Logan Logengal

Nana R. Rajkwer

Hermie Garcia

Mila Garcia

Mohammad Ahmadi ITC TV

Asha Rajak

Andrey Mazuruc

Luba Cherny

Neel Nanda

John S. Saraidaris

Agenda

1.            Welcome Remarks by the chair.

2.            Minutes of the previous meeting

3.            Presentation by Hon. Charles Sousa – Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Immigration

4.         Report of the President

5.         New Business

6.            Adjournment

Welcome Remarks by the Chair:

Dr. Lamba chaired the meeting and declared the meeting open.  Irene Keroglidis moved a motion to approve the agenda and William Doyle Marshall seconded it. The motion was carried

Minutes of the previous meeting:

Dr. Tajdolati moved a motion to approve the minutes of the previous monthly meeting held on November 14, 2011.  Irene Keroglidis seconded it.  The motion was carried.

President’s Report/Discussions

·            President Thomas Saras informed the members that NEPMCC has received an invitation to visit the House of Commons in Ottawa in the beginning of 2012. NEPMCC will hire a bus so that all members interested can leave together. March 24, 2012 was one of the dates suggested by the members and approved tentatively upon further communication.

·           Annual Dinner: Many discussions took place regarding the annual dinner on December 16 and tickets were sold out only a very few tickets were distributed to members who requested for tickets from the President. The annual dinner is going to be another spectacular event with live entertainment along with the presence of very distinguished guests. This year’s event is dedicated to Hon. Dr. Eric Hoskins for his services to humanity, to people of Ontario, to international community and to our organization. President Thomas Saras is expecting that the Hon. Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario, along with a number of cabinet ministers as well as the Hon. Bob Rae and Hon. Jim Karygiannis, senior bureaucrats and other VIPs will be with us, celebrating our humanity. The President asked for the approval of an amount equal to 1,100.00 dollars from the treasury for the purchase of the wine and also the right to negotiate roosted lambs and some goods from a bakery and the traditional flowers for the event. The request was approved and the President ordered to take care for the needs of a successful event. 

·            NEPMCC Awards. On October 28 NEPMCC organized the annual Awards ceremony. Awards in different categories were awarded during the ceremony. President Thomas Saras acknowledged the help and contribution of the ministry of Hon. Dr. Hoskins towards the grant provided for the cause of the annual award ceremony. The awards committee worked very hard towards the event. President had special word of mention for Asha Rajak for her outstanding efforts towards the annual award ceremony. President Thomas Saras thanked all the members who participated towards the success of the event. President also expressed warmest gratitude to Lieutenant Governor, The Honourable David C. Onley and his office for all their support in hosting this event this year as well as all the previous years.

·           Word on the street festival: President Thomas Saras thanked Ahmed Shah Hotaki and other volunteers who participated in the event. President Thomas Saras also expressed disappointment at the rate of participation as some members did not participate and thereby losing the opportunity to display their publication to a large and knowledgeable audience who come to the event every year. He expressed his hopes that next year every publication will be participating from all over Canada.

·            President Thomas Saras met officials of Heritage Canada to discuss on the circulation and audit of ethnic newspapers as well as different components of PAP There is new Director General of PAP and the President had a good dialogue there will be continued cooperation between NEPMCC and the department to serve for the cause of the ethnic media industry. Thomas Saras educated the members on various aspects of the PAP (Publication Assistance Program). He answered all queries of the members including various aspect of filling out the application form and its criteria.

·            President Thomas Saras urged all members to be present in January monthly meeting as it is the first meeting of the year and the board has to take many important decisions on various issues of business.

Presentation by Hon. Charles Sousa – Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Immigration

Dr. Lamba welcomed Hon. Charles Souza to address the council.

Hon Charles Souza began his address by mentioning that he was a son of Immigrants who came to Canada in the 1950s.

Charles Sousa was first elected to the Ontario Legislature in 2007 and re-elected in 2011. He currently serves as Ontario's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and Minister Responsible for the 2015 Pan/Parapan Am Games. He also a member of the Treasury Board/Management Board of Cabinet. He has previously served as Minister of Labour and as a member of the Standing Committee on Finance & Economic Affairs. He has also held the positions of Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Economic Development & Trade and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Government & Consumer Services.

Charles Sousa grew up in south Mississauga and lives in Clarkson with his wife and their three children.

The Honourable Minister then welcomed questions from the floor.

Suleiman Guven, Sima  Zerehi, Srimal  Abeyawardene, Mila Garcia and many other members actively participated in the discussion.

There was a wide variety of issues such as multiculturalism, economic growth of Ontario, Pan  Am Games and its impact on the province, contribution of immigrants to the economic development of the province, Ontario share and contribution to the economy of Canada, Federal Skilled Worker Program, TNT program, introduction of Super Visa, and other pertinent issues were discussed during the question and answer session.

President Thomas Saras thanked the Honourable Minister for his time and extended an invitation to him to the annual dinner of NEPMCC on December 16.

 Hon: Charles Souza expressed gratitude for the invitation and thanked President Thomas Saras for giving him the opportunity to connect with the members of NEPMCC.

 Adjournment: Irene Keroglidis moved a motion to adjourn the meeting, Ahmad Shah Hotaki seconded it. The motion was carried. The chair adjourned the meeting at 9:30 pm. The next meeting would take place on January 09, 2012 at Queens Park.