Minutes of the Monthly Meeting held on July14, 2014, at Committee Room No 2, Queens Park

Present:
Thomas S. Saras
Neel Nanda
Adu Raudkavi
Khan Khoda, Dr.
Maria Saras-Voutsinas
Daniela Spirlac
Ishkhan Ghazarian
Peter Galiatsos
Marek Goldyn
Mohammad- Bagher Samimi
Mulugeta Zergaber
Teshome Woldeamanuel
Maricelle Delgado Parrenas
Mohammed Tajdolati
Tatyana Fursenko
William Doyle-Marszhall
Ned Blair Raffi Der-Boghossian
Isa melo
David Nguyen
Inga Cernei
Luij Aparicio
Paula McKeygei
Srimal Abeyewardene
John Saraidaris
Muhammed Enad
Charles deva
Pudhuai Raaman
Venthan Ramang
Hermie Garcia
Mila Garcia.
Arif Ahmed
Mujibor Rahman
Dumitru Poposcu
Mehmet Onayli
Suhan Ali Shunbill
Tharmasri Rajan
Susan Donan
Saad Alsafar
Ahmed Hotaki
Hai-Tien Lin
Nagamany Legendrinligan
Ahilakuwaran Multhukymaracamey
Luba Cherny
Logan Logendraliugan
Agenda

  • Welcome Remarks by the chair.
  • Minutes of the previous meeting
  • Report of the President.
  • New Business
  • Adjournment

Welcome Remarks by the Chair:

Mr. Thomas Saras chaired the meeting and declared the meeting open. Dr Tajdolati moved a motion to approve the agenda. Maria Saras- Voutsinas 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 Maria Saras-Voutsinas seconded it.  The motion was carried.

               President’s Report/Discussions:

 

  • President Thomas Saras thanked Ned Blair for his outstanding contribution towards the success of Canada Day celebration held at Cypriot Hall. President Thomas Saras informed the members on the costs of the event and expressed disappointment on the participation of the members of NEPMCC. Although the event was sold out but members from NEPMCC attending were low compared to non-members. He stressed that when members vote for an event they should all wholeheartedly participate in events.
  • President Thomas Saras urged those members to pay their annual membership who have not yet paid their annual membership fee to renew their membership with the organization. NEPMCC has a lot of projects waiting in 2014 for the benefit of ethnic media industry and all projects have cost associated with them. Many members have benefited being a part of NEPMCC and paying membership fees in a timely manner is a duty of all members. President Thomas Saras informed that many members are still to renew their membership with NEPMCC.
  • The President introduced the idea of running an academic scholarship for a student of Journalism with an educational institution, either a University or Seneca College. There were various discussions on this and many members participated in the discussion.
  • The last day of nominations for this year’s annual award of the NEPMCC was June 30 and the process of nomination is now closed.
  • The annual ethnic press exhibition at the CNE will take place in August and the opening ceremony will take place on Sunday August 17, at 12:30 pm. Many distinguished individuals from all three levels of government and not only, have confirmed their participation for the event   Members attending the event must register by August 10. President Thomas Saras suggested of bringing out a booklet reflecting on the history of NEPMCC. NEPMCC would have five student volunteers from five different communities to attend our pavilion and interact with our visitors during the exhibition. The students would translate to audiences about the purpose and history of NEPMCC to those visitors who do not speak or understand English. This year the CNE starts from August 15 to September 1.
  • The President stressed on the importance of the Annual Ethnic Press exhibition held on CNE every year. The booth for NEPMCC is strategically located in Hall B of the International Markets Pavilion of Direct Energy Centre, where thousands or probably millions of CNE guests visit every day and therefore it is a best Public Relations opportunity for publishers to be part of the NEPMCC exhibitor booth at the CNE. The President also urged members to apply for CNE Media accreditation pass as there is limited number of guest passes offered to NEPMCC.
  • The President asked the members to place a request for entrance tickets to CNE. The tickets purchased on their behalf by the administration of the NEPMCC and are distributed free from any charge to members which are planning to attend the opening ceremonies and also the reception, following the ceremonies, at the Green Cafe inside the Hall, where drinks and food will be offered on behalf of the organization. According to speaker there are going to distributed more than 200 entry tickets but unfortunately this year we could not obtain parking tickets. This is the reason the president urged the members to use TTC for their visit to FAIR.
  • The president informed the members that some applications for funding have been rejected as the said publications were not clearly indicating about the writers of their articles. To this extend the president suggested the need for a special information session for all members in cooperation with the Canadian Heritage in order to be given explanations.
  • The president also said that some members are calling the office only when they need a help or support for their projects and after this they never participate in the affairs of the organization. Effective immediately, said the speaker, his office will not prepared to engage in any special services for such members that they do not participating in the affairs of the organization. This is your organization and therefore all of us have to support and work together for the success of all of us, concluded the speaker.
  • There was a discussion about community developments and were suggestions that the administration must be more active in these affairs. The president thank the members and told them that his office remains always open to every community member which need our services. This is my job and this is how we are working, said the president. We are here to take action and help to every problem of the communities or inter-communities and this is our job to do our best to keep our communities informed and in good relations. Canada, is a wonderful country, our adapted mother land and it is to our interest to keep the peace and harmonious relations between and among our communities.  
  • Notwithstanding any other discussions the chair requested from the floor a motion for the closing of the discussions, which was done. All participants voted for the motions that the discussions now are closed.  

                 

 

Adjournment:

Mohammad Tajdolati moved a motion to adjourn the meeting Srimal Abeyawardene seconded it. The motion was carried. The Chair President Thomas Saras adjourned the meeting at 9:30 pm. The next monthly meeting would take place on August 11, 2014 at Queens Park.