Minutes of the Monthly Meeting held on March 12, 2012 at Committee Room No 2, Queens Park

Present:

Thomas S. Saras

Ranjit Wicks

Upali Obeyesekere

Mohammad Tajdolati

Jonathan Annobil

Marek Goldyn

Neel nanda

Khan Khoda    Deshi TV

Irene Keroglidis

Omeed Mahboub ITC TV

Mohammad  Ahmady  ITC TV

Teshome Worldeamanuel

Shahidul   Islam Mintu

Dumitru Popescu

Ahmad Shah Hotaki

Sandeep Prabhakar

Rakhi   Prabhakar

Sultan  Shunbuli

Aaron Berhane

Moorthy Sellathurai

Raffi Der-Boghossian

Saad Alsafar

Suleyman Guven

Don  Nishantha

Hermie Garcia

Mila Astroga  Garcia

Jose Donan

Susana Donan

Saraidaris Ioannis

Srimal Abeyewardene

N. Logan Loyendrulingham

Ned Blair

Kevin Wang

Paultopn McKengie

Dilbag Puar

Agenda

1.            Welcome Remarks by the chair.

2.            Minutes of the previous meeting

3.         Report of the President

4.            Presentation by Ontario NDP Leader Hon: Andrea Horwath and MPP of Bramlea-Gore Malton Jagmeet Singh 

5.            Scarborough- Agincourt Liberal MP HON. Jim Karygiannis introduces Liberal candidate for by-election in Toronto –Danforth, Grant Gordon to NEPMCC for a presentation

6.         New Business

7.            Adjournment

Welcome Remarks by the Chair:

Irene Keroglidis chaired the meeting and declared the meeting open.  UPali  moved a motion to approve the agenda, Rakhi Prabhakar 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 February 13 2012. Rakhi Prabhakar seconded it.  The motion was carried.

President’s Report/Discussions

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

·           The proposed visit to Parliament Hill in Ottawa will take place in March 26. There were many discussions regarding the visit to Parliament by members of NEPMCC. Most members had already expressed their interest in their visit and President urged the remaining members to confirm their participation as there were only very few spaces remaining.

·           The Annual Awards ceremony will most likely take place on Friday October 26 .Motion: there was motion on the table to have a dinner on the same day after the awards. The Motion was moved by Hermie Garcia and was seconded by Dr. Tajdolati. Motion was carried.-The logistics of the annual award ceremony and dinner would be discussed in the next meeting.

·            President Thomas Saras distributed copies of 2011 financial statement of NEPMCC to the members. Motion: Ned Blair moved a motion to accept the financial statement and the motion   seconded by Srimal Abeyawardene. The motion was carried. (No absenteeism and No one against).

·            Thomas Saras thanked members of NEPMCC who made donations to organization. He was appreciative of the members who recognized the help they have received from NEPMCC.

·            President Thomas Saras is looking for intern from Ryerson to be working with NEPMCC. The intern once selected will assist the office of the President in all future projects.

·            President Thomas Saras asked the intent of the members who are not in the board of NEPMCC but want to serve the organization to submit their names to the office of the President by Wednesday March 14. The office of the President will decide with the executive committee on the roles of new board members once approved.

·            President Thomas Saras urged all members to be present in the next monthly meeting in April as the board has to take many important decisions on various issues of business. Members were also reminded to pay their annual membership fee of $50

Presentation by Ontario NDP Leader Andréa Horwath and MPP of Bramlea-Gore Malton Jagmeet Singh 

President Thomas Saras invited NDP Leader to address the floor.

NDP Leader thanked President Thomas Saras for the opportunity to meet once again and introduced Jagmeet Singh the NDP’s new MPP for Bramalea-Gore-Malton.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath in her address to the members of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council began listing her priorities for the upcoming provincial budget, where she was joined by Jagmeet Singh, the NDP’s new MPP for Bramalea-Gore-Malton.

In her presentation to NEPMCC at Queen’s Park, Horwath said the priority must be to ensure the financial well-being of families who make our province work.

“The people of Ontario expect politicians to work together to make their lives better,” said Horwath. “We’re putting forward some concrete ideas that we hope to see reflected in the next budget and telling the Premier we expect him to put people first.”

“Ontario needs a balanced approach to balancing the books,” said Horwath.  “Our province won’t succeed unless the people who make it work are financially secure.  We need to make life affordable, improve our health services and adopt a smarter strategy that creates and protects good jobs.”

Horwath and Finance Critic Michael Prue have held province-wide consultation to hear ideas from leading economists in the private sector, organised labour, small business owners and families worried about making ends meet. 

Horwath outlined the NDP’s priorities for the upcoming budget:

·           An effective jobs strategy:  replacing no-strings-attached corporate tax cuts with tax measures that reward companies when they hire and make job-creating investments in machinery, equipment and training; legislation to ensure natural resources aren’t shipped away if they can be processed in Ontario and create value-added jobs; ongoing investment in infrastructure.

·            Ensuring government services are there when they need them:  Enhance home care hours to eliminate waits, put a hard cap on executive compensation and put a moratorium on health restructuring until a full LHIN review  has been conducted with a mandate to review the effectiveness of privatized health services such as the competitive bidding process in home care.

·           Make life affordable: Take the HST off home heating and conduct a full-scale review of electricity sector, with a view to merging Ontario’s five hydro agencies and restoring public ownership and accountability.

Finally, Horwath called for, “a balanced approach to balancing the books”, one that looks at revenue generation as well as spending and one that balanced the priorities of families with the need to eliminate the deficit.

 “I’m too optimistic to believe that Ontario’s on a path of permanent decline,” said Horwath. “We can balance Ontario’s budget but to do that we need to plan responsibly and well, and not make reckless cuts that leave families falling behind.”

Jagmeet Singh, elected as an MPP for Bramalea-Gore-Malton in October talked about his first months at Queen’s Park and his commitment to working hard to represent the needs of his constituents.

One of Singh’s main campaign promises was to fix the unfair auto insurance system that leaves some families paying more simply because of where they live.

Singh has persistently raised the concerns of drivers about unfair insurance premiums since his election last year, calling for a change in the law to protect drivers.

Most recently he has introduced a new bill at the Ontario Legislature to stamp out the practice of charging drivers more depending on their neighbourhood.

“Families in many GTA communities are facing astronomical insurance premiums that have more to do with where they live than their accident history or driving ability. This bill will tackle that unfair practice and help make life more affordable for families,” said Singh.

Singh said that during the last election he heard from voters worried about unfair auto insurance rates, and promised to make it a priority if elected to Queen’s Park.

“Two people buy the same product but the person living in a modest income neighbourhood with more new Canadians pays twice as much. We wouldn’t accept this in any other business. We need change that puts everyday drivers first,” added Singh.

Research done by the NDP based on the lowest quotes available, shows that a 40-year old driver with a spotless record, driving a subcompact Yaris and living at Weston and Jane, will pay approximately $2,500 premium, while 40-year old living in Lawrence Park with the same car and driving record will pay approximately $1,150.

Andrea Horwath and Jagmeet Singh were eager to take questions from the media on a range of important topics, and look forward to many further meetings with the National Ethnic Press and Media Council in the future.

Ferdous Rehmani, Mareck Goodwyn, Suleiman Guven, Rakhi Prabhakar and many other members participated in the discussion. The Ontario NDP leaders candidly answered all questions that were in the floor.

The chair of the meeting Irene Keroglidis thanked the leaders for their time and presentation.

Scarborough- Agincourt Liberal MP Hon: Jim Karygiannis introduced Liberal candidate for by-election in Toronto –Danforth, Grant Gordon to NEPMCC to make his presentation to NEPMCC.

Hon. Jim Karygiannis thanked President Thomas Saras and members of NEPMCC for giving him the opportunity to introduce Liberal candidate Grant Gordon for Toronto-Danforth.

After introduction from Hon. Jim Karygiannis, Grant Gordon expressed his enthusiasm in meeting with the members of NEPMCC and discuss the issues facing the electorate.

He listed issues like Child Care, Small Business, Pension, LGBT and others as important issues facing his electorates and Canadians.

Grant Gordon shared his experiences in meeting his constituents during his campaign and highlighted the issues that are facing them. He then opened the floor for discussions.

Suleiman Guven, Srimal Abeyawardene, Rakhi Prabhakar and many other members participated in the discussions.

The chair of the meeting Irene Keroglidis thanked Hon. Jim Karygiannis and Grant Gordon for their time and wished them success in their endeavor

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New Business:

Srimal Abeyawardene asked members to observe a one minute of silence on the 2 journalists that were killed in Syria. NEPMCC observed a one minute of silence on the journalists killed in Syria

Logan gave his views on Canada Day dinner and suggested to keep it on either Saturday or Sunday this year.

Mila Garcia informed members of NEPMCC that three Filipino human rights advocates are coming to Toronto on March 28 to talk about human rights violation in Philippines.

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 Adjournment: Srimal Abeyawardene moved a motion to adjourn the meeting.  Suleiman Guven seconded it. The motion was carried. The chair Irene Keroglidis adjourned the meeting at 9:30 pm. The next meeting would take place on April 16, 2012 at Queens Park.

The above notes of the  Monthly meeting were prepared by Neel  Nanda, the Secretary General of the NEPMCC and accepted by the board of directors as is.