Meeting Minutes - Apr. 16, 2007

NATIONAL ETHNIC PRESS AND MEDIA COUNCIL OF CANADA Conseil national de la presse et des medias ethniques du Canada                                                                             Canada's Other Voices Minutes of the monthly meeting held at Queen's Park on April 16, 2007 Present: Thomas Saras Sremal Abeyawardene Clyde McNeil Massood Mashadi Du mitru Popescu Ned Blair Pooyan Tabataei Amir Rahim Hossein Puorhaidor Hasan Yilmaz Dumitru Popescu Josivaldo Rodrigues John. Saraidaris Stephaniw Williams Maryam Aghvami Ranjit Wakromangii David Ferdinands C Senthi Katagum Pyjmer Aris Babikian T Bahavatsinham Jan Jekielek K. Arasarachum Emily Mills Kevin Sing Tahrim Naeem Carmen Wong Hassan Zerehi Neel Nanda Maryam Aghvami Dr. B. Lamba John Saraidaris Ahmed Shah Hotaki Iraj Emad William Doyle Marshall Emmanuel Ayiku Tanya Nutal Alamgir Hussein Trifon Haitas Teshom Wordeamnuel Absent: Kenrick Bobb Irene Keroglidis Mona Feng Agenda: 1. Opening Remarks by the Chair (Moderator) 2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting. 3. Presentation by Soo Wong, Trustee, Ward 20 (TDSB) 4. Roundtable discussion with Mayor David Miller 5. President’s Report/ Discussions 6. End of meeting Opening Remarks by the Chair: The chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked the members to approve the minutes of the previous monthly meeting, if there were no reservations.   Minutes of the previous meeting: Dr.Lamba moved a motion to approve the minutes of the monthly meeting held on March 12, 2007. Iraj Emad seconded it. The motion was carried.   Presentation by Soo Wong, Trustee, Ward 20 (TDSB): Dr. Soo Wong, PhD made a presentation on the issues affecting her ward and the Toronto district School Board in general. There was a question and answer session followed by her presentation. (Dr.Lamba , Ned Blair, Iraj Emad, Trifon Haitais and others asked relevant question to Soo Wong and students from her ward.) The following are the highlights of the discussion. -In 2006-2007, the TDSB received approximately $88 million for ESL programming. However only $44 million was spent this past year for ESL program in both elementary and secondary schools. Approximately 2500 elementary students in TDSB did not receive adequate support for their ESL need. -There are ESL students who are considered to be at risk of not completing their secondary school credits. -A recent University of Calgary study indicated that drop out rates of ESL students are as high as 70%. compared with 30% of other students. -The elderly ESL students learning needs must be addressed and it needs support from both their parents and their educators. -With the largest ESL student population in the province, TDSB needs to demonstrate leadership in ESL education to the new comer students by protecting the provincial ESL funding to local school boards and ensuring that these funds are used exclusively for ESL purposes and no other operational needs. The Moderator on behalf NEPMCC thanked Soo Wong for her presentation and wished the visiting students all the very best in their future endeavors   Presentations by Mayor David Miller on the "one cent now" campaign. Mayor David Miller made his presentation to the council followed by a roundtable discussion. Dr.Lamba, Iraj Emad , Trifon Haitias and other members participated in the discussion. The following is the highlight of the presentation and discussions -Canada's cities deliver the services that our residents rely upon more than those of any other government.   However, the revenues of cities do not match their responsibilities and there remains a significant gap between the infrastructure that is required to maintain growth and the money available to make it happen. -The One Cent NOW! campaign requests the federal government to share one cent of the existing GST with cities to ensure that infrastructure and important services are maintained and that future infrastructure is built in an environmentally friendly manner. Cities are the engines of the Canadian economy and contribute billions to the federal government each year. As the federal government has indicated that there is room to cut the GST, we believe there is room to share one cent to support the critical needs of Canada's largest cities. -The One Cent NOW! campaign is a critical part of the three things cities need the most:    1. A national transit strategy to ensure transit is provided to support our growing economy and protect our environment.    2. Ontario to take back the funding of their programs – specifically the cost of social services and housing that were once paid for by the province of Ontario and cannot be funded by property taxes.    3. A share of revenues that grow with the economy. -One cent of the GST will mean approximately $410 million for Toronto infrastructure – roads, bridges, expressways and the other structural and program supports required to maintain Canada's largest city. -Iraj Emad on behalf of the Council thanked Mayor David Miller for granting an office space in the new City Hall. Mayor David Miller thanked NEPMCC for inviting him to make this important presentation. He mentioned that the ethnic media always plays a vital role in conveying such important information to it's readership. Thomas Saras praised David Miller and his Director of Communications, Don Wannagas for their role in placing NEPMCC in the same front as the mainstream media.   Motion: Iraj Emad moved a motion to make David Miller as the Honorary Chair of NEPMCC and Don Wannagas as an Honorary board member of the council. Dr.Lamba seconded the motion and it was carried by all. Thomas Saras, assured the members that during the upcoming annual festivities and celebrations the administration of the NEPMCC will make the presentation of the certificates to two newly appointed honorary members of the Board.   President's Report/Discussions -The President informed the members about the expenses incurred towards the purchase of new office furniture and office equipment and automation. Thomas Saras invited all the members to the new office and welcomed volunteers who could dedicate some time towards administrative work in the new office. He mentioned that the expenses towards 2 telephone lines connection was $649 from Bell Canada. -Thomas Saras reminded the members about the invitation from Vice-Admiral Robertson, Chief of Maritimes staff on April 28 in HMCS Halifax at 9:00 AM. -The President received a letter from Public Works, which emphasized that any publication that has signed a contract with private advertising agencies should fulfill their contractual obligation to this agency. Members of NEPMCC who are under no contract would have to deal with Cosette Media for receiving Fed. Gov. Advertisements. -Thomas Saras asked the committee of Public Works Canada, responsible for redesigning the eligibility criteria for receiving ads., to make a pre-condition for Eligibility for Government advertising that only those publications that have more than 51% Canadian content in their editions. He also mentioned that to be eligible for Government advertising, the publication should print at least 20 pages and should have no more than 60% of their content as advertising. NEPMCC is cooperating with the Ministry of Culture of the Fed. Government to further develop the website of the organization in order to improve the communications among its members. For this reason Balmoral Marketing expertise are continuously working to do the job as soon as possible. -Dr. Lamba said that any board member absent for more than two consecutive terms without reasonable notice would       forfeit their right as board member. The secretary should inform the ombudsman on the absence of any board member. He moved a motion in order to reinforce this provision of our constitution to this regard. “Any member elected for office it is necessary to follow as much as possible the affairs of the Council”, added Dr. Lamba.  Iraj Emad, coordinator of the Office of the NEPMCC, seconded the motion and was carried by all, with no member having any reservations or voting against. -The President said that in the next meeting the board members would be assigned their portfolios. -The Council passed a resolution that all the member publications would publish the “once cent” campaign by David Miller in their editorial. Dr. Lamba would write the editorial and it would be circulated to all the members of NEPMCC. -Thomas Saras mentioned that the committee for organizing annual event would be formed in the next meeting and that it would be one of the items on the top of the agenda .in the next meeting. -The members  of the NEPMCC were also reminded to submit a brief background of themselves and the organization which would be published in the annual book   End of Meeting: Iraj Emad moved a motion to adjourn the meeting and Dr. Lamba seconded it. It was carried by all. The Chair adjourned the meeting at 9:30 p.m. The next meeting would take place on May 14 2007 at Queen’s Park.