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NATIONAL ETHNIC PRESS AND MEDIA COUNCIL OF CANADA
Conseil national de la press et des medias ethniques du Canada
Canada's Other Voices
April 14, 2008 Meeting Minutes
Meeting Location: Main Legislative Building, committee room # 2
The meeting called for 6:00
Present:
Thomas S. Saras
Bikram Lamba
Ahmad Shah Hotaki
Clyde McNeil
Nasrim Daneshvar
Iraj Emad
Suleyman Gover
Neel Nanda
Mona Feng
Seed Soltanpoyr
Mohammad Tajdolati
Ranbir Chauhan
Raina Sen
Bahram Bahrami
Dumitru Popescu
Nassim Daneshvar
Halini Mohammad Amir
Massood Mashadi
Ned Blair
Thomas Jovanovski
Hai-Tien Lin
John Saraidaris
Shan Chandra
Logan Longendarin
Hassan Zerehi
Sheid Farehadbadi
Luba Cherny
David Ferndinands
Shrimal Abeyewardene
Alamgir Hussien
Hermie Garcia
Mila Astroga Garcia
Jan Jelief
Teshome Worldeamanuel
C. Senthi
Simar Zerehi
AGENDA
1. A call to order by the Chair
2. Motion to Approve the Agenda
- Moved by Dr. Lamba seconded by Mr. Emad, all in favour
3. Welcome Remarks by the Chair
- Welcome remarks cut short for the early arrival of the Minister Chan.
4. Report By President
- Invitation to Prime Minister to come to City Hall at end of June or beginning of July
- The Prime Minister may attend during the opening of the NEPMCC event in City Hall
- May 12, 2008 Mr. Scott Shortlife – Director of the Department of Publications Assistance Program, Canadian Heritage, will attend.
- End of April the survey will be completed and final report will be submitted
- We are going to apply for more funds to re-educate the members
- The report will be submitted to Ottawa perhaps in person by Mr. Saras
- Canadian National Exhibition was told that this year the Citizenship ceremony will not be supported by NEPMCC – as not many members are attending or covering the event
5. Presentations:
3a. Hon. Michael Chan, Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
- Minister asked Council members to introduce themselves
Minister's Address to Council:
- Delighted to be here, to have opportunity to meet all
- Media plays an important role
- New census reflected the degree of growth of Ethnic Community
- Ethnic media are more and more important
- World is getting smaller in part due to media
- Fiber of this country is changing with more and more immigrants
- I wish that you are all publishing faster, more accurate and getting information to your communities
- We appreciate the work the media is doing – to help us do our job the right way
- Want to acknowledge the voice of ethnic media
- As an immigrant- based on my accent you can tell my first language is not English nor French
- I know the importance of getting news in own language
- You help new Canadians understand and connect
- Help mainstream Canada understand immigrants
- Diversity growing rapidly
- Statistics Can reported that Canadians have ties to over 200 countries, in Ontario ¼ are immigrants
- Markham 65% visible minorities
- 2 fronts economic and social integration of newcomers, each year 130,000 newcomers in Ontario
- We want newcomers to be at home in Ontario
- Since 2003 our government has invested $53 million in funding to bridging projects
- Ontario is helping newcomers to find jobs
- Giving newcomers ability to put their skills to work – leading by example
- We tool internationally trained individuals as interns
- 73% of interns found jobs
- In Ontario important to speak French and English we invested more than $53 million on ESL
- Trainings available on website
- Classes listed on website
- 2005 Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement
- Increase funding for settlement and language training
- Best interest of newcomers
- Allows us to make important progress
- Promoting diverse volunteer leadership such as ABC GTA project
- 41 candidates from diverse backgrounds have been appointed on different boards
- Have set programs to engage youth
- OCASI joint work to promote volunteering
- Proud to represent Ontario
- Want newcomers to feel at home
- When newcomers succeed Ontario Succeeds
Q & A:
Q: Dr. Lamba askes: Immigration policy of any policy has to be dovetailed in holistic manner, you are telling us that vast majority of immigrants come to Ontario, over 139,00 jobs lost in past year, with larger influx of immigrants and increased job loss what are we going to do?
A: Issue of job loss is part of a bigger issue, the job loss is the manufacturing jobs. Since 2003 this governement has created many new jobs. The world economy and job situation is changing. It is not just Canada, even US and China are losing manufacturing jobs. In reality we created a lot of jobs. There are still jobs available for newcomers, we just have to match them to the available jobs.
Q: Is there any statistics on the sunshine list for new immigrants?
A: Through my ministry I have non, we had a challenge issue last year and the decision was that we would not have any end year funding
Q: Success of your government in terms of immigration, Toronto Star 2 days ago wrote that 1/5 children go to bed without sufficient food, poverty is the main issue in Ontario and the GTA, Can you explain why this happens? Many immigrants are moving to other provinces because of job losses and lack of opportunities? Do you have any legislation to keep them in Ontario
A: Since 2003 when Liberal became government, the situation was that school and hospital system in chaos, infrastructure was left behind. Every year our budget has a addressed the various issues, this year we are addressing poverty. I am on a committee addressing this issue. The determination is there. We recognize that poverty is an issue, also for newcomers. In terms of immigrants moving s away, we cannot control immigrants destinations, every year more than half of immigrants still choose Ontario as their destination. The 450,000 jobs created address this need. We are retaining immigrants in this province.
Q:
A: Commend Minster of Immigration Diane Finley for taking steps to speed up backlog – I think this is a good measure. I also expressed my concerns such as lack of consultation. Many are surprised. I also had a concern on the issue of temporary workers and the fact that temporary workers can become undocumented, and this can be a burden on our society. The third concern is about transparency and equality. I wanted to let Minister Finley know that no group or class will be disadvantaged in favour of another. I want to see skill, and unskilled workers addressed. I will be keeping continual dialogue in terms of what to do next in terms of the. I have not encouraged Federal Liberals to vote against these amendments. Regarding the PNP, Ontario is not the only Province, everyone has different ways of carrying out this program. By September Minister Finely wants to see uniformity. PNP started as a pilot in May and the year is not over, we have over 200 employer qualified, we have close to 100 applicants and approved near 100, The program takes time, it takes 9 months to process. So far our number is higher than 1st year for other provinces.
Q: How much money does Ontario get per new immigrant and how do you spend it?
A: We were pushing Fed government to address underfunding, $920 million over 5 years. 2007, and 2006 $150 million - $100 million on language training – the balance of newcomer settlement and training. Federal money is only for new immigrants not refugees or citizens.
Q: Ministry should use media as a resource. Newspapers have advertising by government but not about services that can help immigrants. The message is not reaching communities. One reason for child poverty is lack of access to decent jobs. We need to integrate this information. We are losing money and brain power. Social integration needs to happen. We need support as ethnic media to help carry the message from government and vice versa.
A: Total funding is spent for Settlement Agencies and the Global Experience Ontario to help newcomers. We passed Bill 124 – in position to receive report by Commissioner Augustine in May for potential recognition. We also have bridging of jobs. In terms of providing services Ontario government is working really hard. We understand the challenges.
Q: How are new immigrants faring in Ontario, including on issues of housing? Many are unable to secure good employment, and are working at McDonalds. Are we handing people who are suitable to Canada?
A: We have assessment that Federal government administers. Newcomers, before coming to Canada, have to study. Coming to a new country is a challenge. Newcomers should study and compare Canada with other countries. Australia and London are beating us for recruitment of new immigrants because they are processing applications faster.
Q: Big issue between Tibet and China. How is this going to effect the Canadian immigration issue as it stands right now?
A: I see no impact, this is unrelated. In terms of coming to country I have confidence in Federal government to process applications.
Q: Do you have any plans in regards to undocumented workers? There are many undocumented workers.
A: We are aware of the issue on a Provincial level, but we have no plans. This is more of a Federal issue. I have no information for you.
Q: There are problems, lately. The problem is not the money for training or retraining, but some or many people are taking programs and courses and many paying for these programs only to find at the end that there is no place for them to get Canadian experience and practice. In this organization we have many young people, we have sent a number of them to attend retraining programs, but young people are still being left with no jobs. Don’t do you think that government needs to ensure that there are enough positions for students once they complete training or education. We need to be connecting with businesses to provide on-the-job experience. We don’t want to scare you, there are certain things that we have to do, this is not just $150 million, but we also need to find positions and jobs for young people.
A: The government is spending $300 Million both Federal and Provincial. There are many problems. Other than government spending money we actually engage the private sector. The Bank is the major form of participation. Yes, we are connecting the newcomers to the prospective private sector.
3b. Hon. Olivia Chow, NDP Critic of Citizenship and Immigration
Address to Council:
- Thank you for taking the time to allow me to talk to you
- I really want to talk to you tonight about are the immigration changes under C-50
- Imbedded in section 6 – we have 3 fundamental changes to immigration
- The first one talks about the Minister having the capacity to change the rules and move categories of people ahead of others
- She also had capacity to throw out and not process application
- Also capacity to favour certain categories
- The 2nd change is cases under Humanitarian and Compassionate Grounds for refugee children
- Third change, if applicant meets all criteria, the old rule would say that Minister shall give you a Visa, now it says the Minister may issue – which means she does not have to issue a Visa – it also means that Minister will be above the law and her rule cannot be challenged
- In House of Commons the Bill has had 1st and 2nd reading – Last Thursday my amendment to repeal C-50 did not pass – On Thursday many Liberal decided to not vote – The Bill passed 2nd reading – The bill is now before the Finance Committee
- We now have motion to take immigration part out of budget implementation Bill
- I want to urge you to place this as priority in your publications
Q & A:
Q: What is the chance to pass the motion, considering that NDP is a minority and the Liberals are not ready for election?
A: That’s a very good question, but it is up to you, the Bloc and NDP together do not have enough votes to pass this motion, but if some Liberals vote with us. I think this is important – I put my job on the line. It’s democracy, you can’t predict who is going to get elected
Q: This is a deliberate attempt to streamline the system – look at the backlog. Should you as an immigration critic, ensure that the attack against the bill be targeted and only oppose the parts that are problematic
A: Unfortunately the conservatives did not give us option to amend the bill, we can’t pick and chose. We were told you have to take it or leave it. There was no consultation. The Minister says it is all about the 900,000 backlog. The huge cut in 90’s of visa offices caused this. However, the bill that is being passed won’t have impact on the backlog; it will deal with future applications. We all want to streamline, by hiring staff and listing desired categories.
Q: What is the real motivation behind this?
A: There is always a reason, I am not a Conservative I ama far from being one. The Minister and the Conservatives want a lot of cheap labour. If you look at today’s Calgary Herald you see the need for cheap, temporary labour for oil. My vision of Canada is not just workers, but families and children. That’s’ why family reunification is important. The NDP wants to expand family reunification. This is about cheap labour and it will lower the wages for everybody.
Q: As publishers and editors of ethnic papers we are here but we can different political views. I was invited by Minister Finley to her office – about 10 Ethnic media members were there. She stated that they are going to hire not only professionals but also as cooks. I published the article. A few weeks later Jim Karigianis and he said that these amendments are going to be harmful – I also published that. What do you think
A: The point system has to change – the chefs are going to come as temporary foreign workers – they can’t come here as immigrants – they are here under employers and can be deported at any time – I will be the first to change the point system
Q: I think that this will assist the poverty issue in Canada, temporary workers means that we don’t have to budget for them and provide them with services.
A: We know that having families means that we adopt a lot faster – families support each other. In Alberta we have whole town where single men work – living as temporary workers. It reminds me of the Chinese who came here to build the railroads. We need to learn from history
Q: Can you propose a motion to increase number of people to process applications? Why is the NDP active to get the community to wake-up?
A: We have flyers in different languages about this Bill and why they are terrible, we also have petitions on our website about this bill in several languages – we also have several motions. We want people to come and speak at Committee level about why this Bill is terrible. We cannot bring a money bill in house of commons.
Q: Harper government is in power because of the NDP
A: We cannot alone take the Harper government down – the Canadian people voted for them
Q: Why are employers insisting on temporary Foreign workers if they ultimately want permanent residency
A: Employers can pick and chose – they can say which country they want – what salary they want to pay – most of these workers don’t know their rights – many of them also paid a great deal of money to recruiters overseas – therefore if they speak against poor working conditions they will face deportations and dept – number of landed immigrants has decreased but number of permanent residents has decreased
Q: What about the internal backlog?
A: There is a huge backlog on refugee and undocumented workers – the refugee backlog is growing from 20 to 50,00o plus and expected to grow to 80,000
6. Report By President Continued
- Many members have called to provided apologies for not attending, this means that we will be less than our regular numbers
- We need to take ourselves and our meetings seriously
- Luba has volunteered to organize a pavilion for ethnic press
- Each one of us must make sure that we have a number of publications from each community represented
- We are going to have 45 tables available – each community will have their own publication
- Monday July 7, make sure that we each bring at least 50 people from our community
- If we do this the rotunda of City Hall will be full, and we will create a great impression
- Luba will work with others to present a cultural component and Ministers and other politicians will be there
- If we want mainstream media to pay attention we have to fill-up the area in City Hall
- The mayor is also going to contribute with some refreshments and I will also provide pastries and ask you all to also contribute
- We will pay for some of the food
- I am making an appeal – please start working on this event – we only have 60 days
- All publications must bring as many papers as possible
- We have invited Cossette Media, the Minister of Immigration, MBS, Minister of Culture, and others
- These people should see the crowds that Ethnic Media can attract
- CHIN and Fairchild will be covering the event, as well as others
- Multicom media will also participate
- Clyde and the committee are organizing this not I, but it is our responsibility to establish ourselves
- We have invited the Mayor, the Governor General the Premiere, the Prime Minister – I hope that each one of you will volunteer
- We will have music and a rich cultural presentations
- This event will be from Monday July 7 – 12, 2008
7. City Hall Exhibition Report by Clyde
- Each newspaper must bring down two copies of their favourite copies
- The deadline for mounting is May 12 – for mounting – we need one or two newspapers – the cover or the entire paper
- Please make sure to mail to take to City Hall office
- Address to send: NEPMCC, P.O. Box 266 Station O, Toronto ON, M4A 2N3
- The Phillipino Reporter has already submitted their paper for mounting
- The first day will include the Mayor and the dignitaries
- It is important that we make a major impact
- We are planning on going to Statistics Canada to get profile of the various ethnic communities to include in the display
- If your community can provide some cultural entertainment we will be happy – we now only have 3 days filled
- The police will be there, after the first day we will also cover different issues
8. Minutes from Last meeting
- Dr. Lamba moves to approve, Iraj seconded, all in favour
9. New Business/Motions:
9a. Dr. Lamba wants issue of Directors who have missed 3 to 4 meetings and according to bi-laws must be removed
- Chair poses two options, 1. To defer to authority of Ombudsman, 2. To come to this next meeting
Motion to look into option number two to look at this issue at next meeting
- Passed by majority
Discussion:
- Some members of executive have not been present for many meetings, some have not attended since election
- The senior-vice president has been away without notice
- We need to see this as our organization
- One member is in China and has sent her husband
- Some members have been coming from far distances and despite very busy schedules
- Despite illness many members have continued to attend Chair abdicates position to President to make remarks
- If members submit regret it cannot be considered an absence
- It is the job of the Secretary to address this issue not the Ombudsmen
- Than that issue has be addressed with the person absent
- Lets not use this issue as a witch-hunt
Chair resumes his role
10. July 1st Dentonnia Park (Victoria Park and Danforth)
- Family picnic please attend
- 5pm the celebration starts for Canada Day
11. Fundraising event for candidacy on July 27
- Ellas Banquet Hall dinner
12. ADJOURNMENT
The Next meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 12, 2008, Committee Room #2 of the Main Legislative building, Queen’s park, Toronto. Our meeting for June 9, 2008 is also going to take place as planned in Committee room #2 of the Main Legislative building in Queens Park, Toronto.
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