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Minutes of the Monthly Meeting held on November 14, 2016, at City Hall Committee room # 2

Present:

Thomas S. Saras
Neel Nanda
Maria Saras-Voutsinas
Rosemary Sadler
Ricky Castellvi
Pooyan Tabatabaei
Leila Monteiro Lins
Teshome Worleamanuel
Yanusz Raudkivi
Suleiman Guven
Metin Ciyani
Leila Montediro Lins
Asha Bajay / IBNS
Patrick Lang
Martin Van Denzen
Sandeep Prabakar
Rakhee Prabakar
Mike Kolosowski
Khadijeh Ebrahimian
Helen Li
Arif Ahmed
Ahmad Shah Hotaki
Abuz Azad
Ninu Nanda
Janusz Niemcrz
Khalid Magram
Isa Melo
Elizabeth Nasr  (Arabia)
Jamshid Tajdolat
Mohammad-Bagher Samimi
Yuri Natchetoi
Eugenia Bakchinow
Mohammad Tajdolati, Dr.
Shahidul Islam MIW TV- Bengali Times
Hermie Garcia
Mila Astroga Garcia
Luisito Queano
Paulo Meigri
Marek Goldyn
Sodic Gran
Aris Babikian
Janusz Niemczyk
Raffi Der Boghossian
Yohannes Axalew
Ranjit Wicks
Srimal Abeyewardene
Charles Devasasanam
John Saraidaris
Ernesto Donan
Susana Donan
Kevin Wang.

Agenda

  1. Welcome Remarks by the chair.
  2. Minutes of the previous meeting
  3. Report of the President
  4. Presentation by the Delegation of Invictus Games 2017
  5. Presentation by TDSB Trustee Neethan Shan
  6. New Members
  7. Adjournment

Welcome Remarks by the Chair:

Mr. Thomas Saras chaired the meeting and declared the meeting open. Sandeep Prabhakar moved a motion to approve the agenda. Jonathan Annobil seconded it. The motion was carried

Minutes of the previous meeting:

Sandeep Prabhaker moved a motion to approve the minutes of the previous monthly meeting Janus Raudkavi seconded it.  The motion was carried.

President’s Report/Discussions:

  • Thomas Saras reminded the members to renew their membership in the coming year in order to continue enjoying the benefits and privileges of being a member of NEPMCC. He expressed disappointed that only a portion of members have renewed their membership the year ending. Mr. Saras reminded that a strong treasury makes stronger the organization.

  • President Thomas Saras mentioned he had meeting with Heritage Canada officials regarding the rules and guidelines governing the Canada Magazine Fund – as there are changes to the rules this year. Also he said that he had a meeting with Mr. John Hinds, the Chief Executive Officer of Newspapers Canada and also Ms. Winnie Legaspi, of the same organization and they discussed the possibility of exclusive cooperation for our auditing needs.   Motion: “Every member publisher either magazine or newspaper who request an auditing has to go to Newspaper Canada and will be charged  a special preferred  rate of $800 CAD as being a privileged member of NEPMCC” – Motion was brought in the floor by Jonathan Annobil. Eugene and Ricky Castelvi seconded it. Motion was unanimously carried.

  • President Thomas Saras informed the members that the first phase of the digital publishing platform will begin from January 2017. He mentioned that the company responsible for the implementation of the Digital Publishing Platform would update 5 websites every month and as a result 60 websites can be migrated every year to the Digital Publishing Platform of the organization. The company will work also to bring advertisement for the site. Any amount of income from this project will later be split among our members whose sites are incorporated in the digital publishing site of the organization.

  • President Thomas Saras would send a link of Canada Magazine Fund to the members as soon as the department is going to be ready for accepting new applications.. In the next meeting President would organize a workshop on the guidelines on applying for the fund.

  • Tickets for Annual Gala Dinner to be held on December 16 was distributed during the meeting for a subsidized rate of $30 per ticket. President Thomas Saras encouraged all members to participate with their families. All levels of Government have been invited for this Gala dinner and it will be a great way to wind up another great year at NEPMCC and prepare for the next year.

    •

    Presentation by Invictus Games 2017

    Michael Burns CEO made a video presentation on Invictus Games 2017.
    He made a video presentation on the history of the games and its purpose and how Toronto and Canada can benefit from the games in 2017.
    The following are the highlights of the presentation:
    The Invictus Games Foundation was established in London, England, in 2014 to pursue and develop the legacy of the Invictus Games, Prince Harry’s adaptive sport event for injured, ill and wounded servicemen and women and veterans.
    Founded in August 2015, the Invictus Games Toronto 2017 Organizing Committee is tasked with bringing the Invictus Games to Toronto, Ontario, in 2017. After the UK Invictus Games Foundation awarded the Games to Canada, the Invictus Games Toronto 2017 Organizing Committee was established to build on the success of the London 2014 and Orlando 2016 Invictus Games to put on an event that will capture the imaginations of the Canadian public, corporations and governments, as well as soldiers, veterans and their families.
    Hosting the Games in Canada in 2017, the year the country celebrates the 150th anniversary of its Confederation, will provide a unique opportunity for Canadians to commemorate and honour its ill, wounded and injured soldiers, and their families. The Invictus Games Toronto 2017 will bring together more than 550 competitors from 17 nations to compete in 12 sports: archery, track and field, cycling, golf, powerlifting, indoor rowing, sitting volleyball, swimming, Jaguar Land Rover driving challenge, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis.

    Caroline McIntosh – Volunteer Workforce –Lead Volunteer of Invictus Games 2017 made a brief presentation to the council. The following are the highlights of her presentation:
    Volunteering is part of Caroline McIntosh’s commitment to honouring the soldiers who liberated the Netherlands in the Second World War. Her Dutch parents, who interacted with Canadian soldiers during the War, instilled in her a reverence for the Canadian Armed Forces, and it’s something the mother of two demonstrates by championing causes that support military personnel and their families. The Mississauga, Ontario resident helped gather 250,000 petition signatures, and support from politicians and organizations, urging the Canadian Mint to produce a commemorative coin featuring the Highway of Heroes. Coin sales raised $200,000 for the Military Families Fund and the Afghanistan Repatriation Memorial Fund. Captivated by the 2016 Invictus Games Closing Ceremony, Caroline McIntosh found her next passion project. “When I watched Prince Harry and listened to his commitment, it mirrored my own,” says McIntosh. “I greatly admire and respect Prince Harry for […] bringing to light what injuries—visible and invisible—military personnel have sustained in the functions of their duties.”
    President Thomas Saras suggested that NEPMCC be made a media sponsor so that members of NEPMCC could get accredited for the games.
    Sandeep Prabhakar, Rosemary Sadlier, Janus Raudkavi and other members asked a wide variety of questions to the presenters from Invictus Games 2017. Following the presentation and discussions there was picture taking opportunity with the Mascot of the games Vimy a young Labrador Retriever trained to be detection dog at the Canadian Armed Forces face in Trenton (CFB Trenton

    Presentation by TDSB Trustee Neethan Shan:

    Maria Saras Voutsinas invited Neethan Shan to make his presentation to the members.
    Neethan Shan, recently elected Trustee of Toronto District School Board (TDSB) presented his campaign to have Ontario government to review the curriculum to make it more diverse, inclusive and reflective. Shan stresses, nurturing of the multicultural atmosphere in the Toronto District schools mattered most for the thriving generations in the multicultural country of Canada. He believes, to lead a life of pride, children belonging from the diverse ethnic groups and communities need to feel equal along with their peers. The equality in education in the learning matter is most important, according to Shan’s motion. He urged individuals and organizations to voice support in his motion at the TDSB.
    Dr. Tajdolati, Mareck Goodyn, Rosemay Saddlier, Suleiman Guven, Rakhee Prabhakar, Ahmed Shah Hotaki and others asked questions on a wide variety of questions following the presentation and expressed support in Shan’s endeavour.

     

    New Members/ New Business

    Suman Das – IBNS Canada
    Adjournment: John Saras moved a motion to adjourn the meeting and Jonathan Annobil seconded it. The motion was carried. The Chair, President Thomas Saras adjourned the meeting at 9 pm. The next monthly meeting would take place on Monday, December 12, 2016 at Committee room N# 2, second floor, City Hall in the city of Toronto.