Minutes of the Monthly Meeting held on January 09, 2012 at Committee Room No 2, Queens Park

Present:

Thomas S. Saras

Ahmed Hotaki

Asha Rajak

Bikram Lamba

Mohammad-Barher, Samimi

Sultan Ali, Shuhbuli

Mohammed Tajdolati

Parry Long

Neel Nanda

Blagoja Ristic

Suleyman Guven

Irene Keroglidis

Ranjit Wicks

Lipal Obuyzziker

Marek Golden

Moorthy S.

Perrii Muthuraman

Raffi Der-Boghossian

Michael Shiravand

Pulraj Rajapandrian

Aaaron Berhane

Jose Donan

Susana Donan

Hermie Garcia

Mila Astroga Garcia

Srimal Abeyewardin

Logan Loganalijan

Ananya Majumdar

Sima Sahar Zerehi

Hai Tien Lin

D. Nishantha

Upali Obeyeskera

Ahmed Shah Hotaki

John Saraidaris

Agenda

1. Welcome Remarks by the chair.

2. Minutes of the previous meeting

3. Report of the President

4. New Business

5. Adjournment

Welcome Remarks by the Chair:

Dr. Lamba chaired the meeting and declared the meeting open as 34 members were in attendance.

Irene Keroglidis moved a motion to approve the agenda and Dr. Tajdolati seconded it. The motion was carried

Minutes of the previous meeting:

Suleiman Guven moved a motion to approve the minutes of the previous monthly meeting held on December 12, 2011.Ranjit Wicks 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 in visiting Ottawa can leave together. March 24, 2012 was one of the dates suggested by the members for the visit to Ottawa and the date would be finalized upon further communication from Ottawa.

· President Thomas Saras acknowledged the hard work of the members of NEPMCC for moving this organization forward.

· NEPMCC would submit application for funding for projects such as CNE, the annual awards, Exhibition at City Hall and others

· President Thomas Saras informed the members, that NEPMCC has received a report from Seneca College on the survey that NEPMCC had conducted among the members and stakeholders of ethnic media. NEPMCC would send a copy of this report to various Government bodies and institution.

· Based on this report from Seneca College a recommendation may be made to conduct another educational seminar this year for the members of the ethnic media.

· President Thomas met with the officials of PMO and is in consultation to arrange a roundtable with the Prime Minister in a hotel or a conference room in downtown Toronto. A maximum of 45 members will be able to participate in the roundtable meeting.

· President Thomas Saras expects a very busy year ahead with many important projects and events for NEPMCC.

· President Thomas Saras encouraged everyone to participate in the Self-employed pension plan with the Revenue Canada. Many members participated in this discussion.

· Annual Dinner: Many discussions took place regarding the annual dinner held on December 16, 2011 The annual dinner was another spectacular event with live entertainment along with the presence of very distinguished guests. .

· 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 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 the next monthly meeting in February as it is the second meeting of the year and the board has to take many important decisions on various issues of business. Members were also reminded to pay their annual membership fee. Membership fee –

Dr. Lamba proposed that membership fee be revisited. Many members gave their suggestion on the annual membership fee. President Thomas Saras suggested the annual membership fee to be $35. Sima Zerehi suggested that if there are multiple members from the same media outlet the primary member pays $50 and the subsequent members from the same outlet to have subsidized membership fee like $30. She also suggested having a subsidized membership fee for students

Motion : Irene Keroglidis moved a motion in this regard authorizing the President to apply for various projects in 2012 on behalf of NEPMCC- Srimal Abeyawardene seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously passed.

. Motion: Irene Keroglidis moved a motion suggesting that the annual membership fee to be $50 with amendment for subsequent members from the same media outlet to be $30 and associate member or student member to be $25. Sima Zerehi seconded this motion. Majority of the members voted in favor of this motion. The motion was passed.

Only one member can vote per media outlet during general elections as per the constitution of NEPMCC.

New Business:

Dr. Lamba mentioned that he is invited by World Economic Forum to give a keynote speech in Davos, Switzerland which will be attended by Prime Ministers of 152 countries. The annual meeting of World Economic Forum will be held in Davos, Switzerland from January 25-29.

Asha Rajak informed the members that NEPMCC has software that will update the members on the membership status in its website.

Rafi Boghossian volunteered to offer his help to the office of the President.

New Members

Ananya Majumdar – Heartland Credit View Neighbourhood Centre

Upali Obeyeskere -Times of Sri Lanka

Dr. Lamba on behalf of the board welcomed the new members to the council and hoped that they would actively contribute and participate for the cause of NEPMC

Adjournment: Suleiman Guven moved a motion to adjourn the meeting Irene Keroglidis seconded it. The motion was carried. The chair adjourned the meeting at 9:30 pm. The next meeting would take place on February 13, 2012 at Queens Park.