Minutes of the Monthly Meeting held on September 14th, 2015, at Committee Room No 2, City Hall

Present:

Agenda

• Welcome Remarks by the chair.
• Minutes of the previous meeting
• Report of the President.
• Presentation by Chuck Konkel, Conservative Party Candidate for Scarborough Guildwood
• Presentation by Jennifer Hollett, NDP Candidate for University-Rosedale
• 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 mentioned that the CNE Ethnic Press Exhibition was a huge success with a great opening ceremony where many dignitaries and public figures participated. The booth at the exhibition was visited by thousands of visitors every day. The closing ceremony marking the multicultural day was a huge success as well. He thanked all the volunteers and members who participated at CNE. He also expressed disappointment that some members came late and some members missed the opening ceremony, although it was a great opportunity and exposure for their publication to the Canadian audience.
• President Thomas Saras expressed regret on some of the publications being rejected by Canadian Heritage of the Canadian Periodical Fund. . President travelled to Ottawa to meet with the officials of Canadian Heritage to share the grievances of the members of NEPMCC. He had a constructive meeting with the officials of the department .To this regard President Thomas Saras will invite officers from Canadian Heritage to educate the members on how the applications needs to be submitted and the rules regarding qualifying for funding under the Canadian Magazine fund. A motion on this was on table authorizing the office of the President to arrange a meeting with the members of NEPMCC and Canadian Heritage. The President authorized to cover all necessary expenses for this roundtable meeting from the treasury of the organization, including coffee and pastries. The meeting must be on a Friday afternoon in order to be easy for the members to attend. The meeting will be held for educational purposes only and no grievances will be discussed.
• The list of award winners for 2015 have been finalized by Dr. Tajdolati and very soon they will be announced.

Presentation by Senthi Chelliah, NDP candidate for Markham -Thornhill
Senthi Chelliah made a very brief presentation on his running for MP as an NDP candidate from the riding of Markham – Thornhill. He mentioned that his victory is like our victory as he was one of the member of NEPMCC for a long time.

Presentation by Chuck Konkel, Conservative Party Candidate for Scarborough- Guildwood
Maria Saras Voutsinas introduced the Chuck Konkel to the council:
Chuck Konkel was born in the Netherlands. His family came to Canada as refugees. His Dutch mother, a school principal, washed floors in doctor’s offices (although she would become a respected operating room nurse) and his father a decorated Polish war veteran, initially held two jobs to make ends meet. Chuck paid for his university education by cleaning blast furnaces at Stelco.
Chuck has a Masters degree in International Relations and speaks several languages. He is a published novelist whose books were international best sellers. He is an acknowledged expert in organized crime and creator of Canada’s Hate Crime laws
Chuck began his address by saying that his speech is not going to be about politics.
He mentioned his immigrant root and mentioned that his mother washed floors and he said there is no shame in the dignity of labour. He mentioned that he knows about refugees as he is one himself. He mentioned about his involvement with the community in Scarborough and his passion to work for the community.
He then opened the floor for discussions. Many members participated in the discussion with Chuck Konkel
President Thomas Saras thanked Chuck for his time to the council. He encouraged members to write about the candidates in their respective publications so that the message is spread around. He mentioned about Chuck’s relentless feelings for the refugees suffering in the Middle-East. He supported the plea of Chuck as it is nonpartisan and preferably members can publish the cause of rehabilitation of Yezidi and Mandaean refugees in their front pages of their publication.

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Presentation by Jennifer Hollett- NDP Candidate for University-Rosedale
Maria Saras-Voustinas introduced Jennifer Hollett to the council as follows:
Jennifer Hollett is an award-winning broadcast journalist who’s changing politics from the ground up. And she’s committed to delivering the change our community deserves as University-Rosedale ’s Member of Parliament. Jennifer is a Broadbent Institute leadership fellow, an associate at the Atkinson Foundation and a regular contributor to Newstalk 1010. She was the digital director on Olivia Chow’s Toronto mayoral campaign, and currently combines digital consultation with sessional teaching at Harvard University.

Jennifer Hollett thanked NEPMCC for the invitation. She acknowledged the great role played by ethnic media in informing the public on various social, political and economic issues facing the communities. As a member of tom Mulclair’s NDP team she would work to:

• improve services we rely on: better health care, stronger pensions, affordable child care;
• create good jobs through hiring incentives for small businesses;
• invest in public transit and green spaces to shorten commutes, reduce air pollution and make Toronto more livable.

Rakhee Prabhakar, Suleiman Guven, Srimal Abeyawardene, Ango Dimauro, Arif Mohammad, Mareck Goodyn, Dr. Tajdolati, Mila Garcia, Neel Nanda and other members asked a wide variety of questions on  topics  such as Bill – C-51, reunification of families through immigration, taxation, Federal Advertising on ethnic media development and transportation etc.

Jennifer Hollett answered all questions candidly to the satisfaction of all present. Following the roundtable discussions – there was picture taking opportunity with the NDP candida

New Business-
Many discussions took place around the annual get-together. Ned Blair, Rafi Boghossian, Rakhee Prabhakar and other members participated in the discussions on the annual dinner
President Thomas Saras emphasized that the annual dinner increases bond among members and hoped this year more members would attend along with their families as opposed to non-members
Ticket prices were suggested for $30.

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 10:00 pm. The next monthly meeting would take place on October 19, 2015 at City Hall, committee room #2, at 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm only, due to national elections.