Meeting Minutes - Jan. 12, 2004

NATIONAL ETHNIC PRESS AND MEDIA COUNCIL OF CANADA          Conseil national de la presse et medias ethnicques du Canada                                                                                Canada's Other Voices   Minutes of the monthly meeting held at Queen’s Park on January 12, 2004   Present: Thomas Saras Sremal Abeyawardene Maxwell Wynter Hassan Zerehi Anne Dawson Kendrick Bob Sako Ghazarian Anni Ghazarian Dominique Leval Ahmed Mohamed Ludmila Beletsksaia Ahmed Shah Hotaki Shahram Saremi Marek J. Cooldyn Tania Nuttall Roberto Cardinalli   John Saraidaris Luba Cherny Katte Cherny Karsten Mertens Burhaan Warsame Emmanuel Ayiku Moshen Taghavi Emily Mills Clyde McNeal Indranil Nanda Nahed El Taher Special Invitee: Ronald I. Cohen, Nation Chair, Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC)   Absent: Angela Kabouris Elizabeth Wolska Mona Feng Special Guest: Hon: Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario           Agenda 1.Welcome By the Chair 2.Minutes of the previous meeting 3. Presentation by Ronald Cohen, National Chair (CBSC) 4. Meeting with the Premier 5. President's Report 6. Discussions 7.End of meeting   Welcome by the Chair: Maxwell Wynter, the chair welcomed the members of the council to the first monthly meeting of the year 2004.He expressed optimism that the council will consolidate on it’s past achievements and continue to work for championing the causes of the ethnic Press and media industry. He then moved to first item on the agenda and asked the council to approve the minutes of the previous monthly meeting, if they had no reservations with it.   Minutes of the Previous Meeting: Ann Dawson moved a motion seconded by Sako Ghazarian to approve the minutes of the monthly meeting held on November 2003. It was carried.   Presentation by Ronald Cohen, National Chair (CBSC): The Chair introduced Ronald Cohen to the council and invited him to make his presentation to the members of the council Mr. Ronald Cohen, is the chair of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, with the offices in Ottawa. He began his presentation by distributing handouts to the members of the council. He gave an overview on the history; aims, objectives and the functions of the CBSC He explained the impact the CBSC has on the Canadian media and on the general public. He emphasized that one of the keys to the success of the CBSC is that it is comprised of equal number of members from the media industry and the general public. He explained in details the procedure for complaints and the codes by which the CBSC is governed with. He stated that most of the rulings by the CBSC has been unanimous baring one or two cases. Mr. Cohen gave a few examples of previous cases to explain the thought process behind any rulings by the CBSC. He said that the outreach programs of the CBSC has been to trying to reach the various ethnic population in Canada and it’s brochure has been published in 17 international languages and very soon it is going to be published in many other languages. Burhaan Warsame, the project manager of the Ethnocultural Outreach in CBSC mentioned the impact and the response the program has received from various quarters of the Canadian Society. (The presentation was halted around 7:00 p.m.  for a group picture with the Premier of Ontario at the stairway of the legislative building and then the meeting resumed at the boardroom with an address by the Premier to the members of the council)   Meeting with the Premier: The chair welcomed Hon: Dalton McGuinty, the Premiere of Ontario and invited him to address the council. The premier thanked the NEPMCC for giving him an opportunity to meet with the members of the council. The Premier thanked the publications for the work that they do in serving their communities. He said the immigrants and the government work hand in hand with the experiment called “ Experiment Canada”. He stated that we invite people from all over the world who work hard towards the social and economic progress in Canada. He said the ethnic media forms a vital link with the government and their respective communities. He then said that Government of Ontario is working very hard to reduce the huge deficit of $5.6 billion. He said he would be soon starting public consultations to gather crucial views from the public. He said this would help to prioritize the most needed services in the province while doing it’s best to reduce the deficit. He emphasized that the ethnic media will facilitate in gathering views from the ethnic communities during this consultation process. He said that he would work hard to the commitment of better health care, better education and stronger cities while reducing the huge deficit. One of the specific commitments that he has made is that new Canadians should be able to find here the opportunity and means they need to succeed. He said that the immigrants should be able to contribute in the work place with their highest level of skills and experience and that is one of the important commitments the Government of Ontario has made. He stated that if New Canadians win everybody wins. In his conclusion he once again thanked the council for giving him the opportunity to meet with the members and hoped that there will be more meetings with the council and that the council would assist with the on going public consultation process by connecting the ethnic readers with the Government of Ontario. Thomas Saras, the President of NEPMCC thanked the Premier for taking the time to meet with the members. Mr. Saras asked the Premier to make sure that whatever necessary measures will be taken by his government will not have effects only on the members of communities of the new immigrants which are mostly the most financially depress. The President also said that NEPMCC has declared the year 2004 as the “YEAR OF SOCIAL JUSTICE.” It is time now, that your administration to implement some special measures on behalf of the most vulnerable citizens of the Province of Ontario. The speaker mentioned the children, the elderly the persons with disabilities and the new arriving immigrants that have been followed behind in the society, he asked the Premier to take a look at the minimum wage for the job, which effects mostly the members of the ethnic communities .He then requested the Premier to make a presentation of a plaque to fellow member and treasurer of NEPMCC, Srimal Abeyawardebe for his outstanding contribution to journalism for the past 40 years. The Premier presented him with the plaque and congratulated him for his outstanding contribution to journalism and reaching this remarkable milestone of completing 40 years in journalism. (The Premier departed around 7:30 p.m. and Mr. Cohen resumed his presentation to the council)   During this time he took various questions from the members of the council. There were extensive discussions on the role and significance CBSC plays in the Canadian media. He emphasized that the NEPMCC and the CBSC could work in partnership in upholding the broadcasting standards for the benefit of the diverse population in Canada. He finally thanked the council for giving him the opportunity to make this presentation and said he was pleased to share views with members if the NEPMCC.   The regular meeting of the council resumed shortly after Mr. Cohen’s presentation to the council, with the “President's Report”.   President's Report: The President began his report by stating that the year 2003 was a great year for the NEPMCC. There was great deal of progress achieved with the successful conclusion of the ethno-media conference. He emphasized the hard work must go on towards achieving better standards for the ethnic media industry. He then referred to his discussion with Professor Miller of Ryerson University where efforts are on to establish a kind of refresher course for the members of the NEPMCC. He said he contacted some other Universities towards the same purpose. He informed the council that NEPMCC has presently 160 publications and 10 radio stations. He said the council has been growing and progressing very well. He mentioned that he wrote a letter to the new Premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty requesting him to make Tony Ruperecht as a possible minister or deputy minister since Mr. Ruperecht had worked hard enormously for the cause of new immigrants. He then read out a response from the Premier to his letter where the Premier thanked him for his suggestion and informed him that Mr. Ruperecht has been appointed as member of the policy committee of health and social services. The Premier had also mentioned that Mr. Ruperecht’s experience would be an asset to this committee. Thomas Saras said he made similar recommendation to the new Prime Minister, Hon: Paul Martin for including Jim Karygiannis and Giuseppe (Joseph) Volpe in his new ministry for their enormous hard work on improving the lives of the ethnic population in Canada. He told that Joseph Volpe has now been made the minister for Human Resources and Jim Karygiannis has been appointed as a parliamentary secretary. The President then referred to a letter written by William Fizet of the Canadian heritage congratulating the President of NEPMCC for a very fruitful and successful conference on ethnic media and expressed confidence to consolidate on the progress achieved so far. The President said he was unable to give a statement on expenses of the council, as the bank has not yet provided with a detail statement of transactions. He emphasized that all expenses are accounted for in details and he will provide a record of the expenses once he receives a bank statement. He informed the members that he is scheduled for an open -heart surgery on the February 5, 2003 and during his absence, the First Vice-President becomes the acting President according to the article5.5 of the constitution. He then referred to an email he received from one of the members of the council who had reservations as to who should be the acting President during his absence. The President emphasized that council should strictly go by the constitution as all members are elected members with specific responsibilities. He then mentioned that Maxwell Wynter, the First Vice President and Anne Dawson, the controller of NEPMCC would continue to serve the council as they are still freelance journalists and elected members of the council and their resignation from their previous positions in the Gleaner Company (N.A.) bears no significance and he has already consulted lawyers regarding this issue. He said the council should give full backing to the fellow members in their new endeavors as entrepreneurs. Discussions: Maxwell Wynter, the chair of the meeting stated that the President has been in constant consultation with him regarding the expenses and he assured the council every single expense of the council has been accounted for. He said that the President has been doing enormous work over the years and it is time that members come forward to lighten his load. The chair stated that when he was elected as the Vice President he was committed to work for the council and serve his full term and even his exit from his previous employer does not change that commitment. He said he is committed to work for bettering the cause of this industry and promoting this organization. He is committed to work his full elected term and asked if any members had reservations on this issue. Many members pledged their support to the chair and no one expressed any reservation to the First Vice- President and the Controller completing their respective terms with the council. The chair then urged the members to come forward in helping the President during important events, as collectively the tasks becomes much easier to accomplish. Thomas Saras then informed the council about his meeting with the board of Ontario Community Newspapers and discussed with them the possibility of working together. Among the issues discussed with the Ontario Community Newspaper was that their association would help the members of the NEPMCC to receive Government advertising at the regular rate without paying a huge commission to any agency. The President then reminded he council that a delegation 4-5 members of the council along with M.P. Jim Karygiannis would meet with the new Prime Minister, Paul Martin and submit him a report on behalf of the ethnic Press and Media. The council unanimously endorsed that Maxwell Wynter would be the acting President in the absence of Thomas Saras. There was then a consensus that since both the President and the First Vice-President would not be present in next meeting on February, the next meeting would take place in March the 8th, 2004. The President then tabled a motion and asked the council to adopt a resolution condemning the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Turks 1n 1919, and also ask the Federal and Provincial Government to implement the June 13, 2003, Senate of Canada resolution which calls on for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. There were extensive discussions on this issue. It was then decided to put this issue on a vote. The motion past unanimously. Only 3 members abstained from voting. The chair welcomed new members Karsten Mertens, Publisher and Editor in Chief of "NEUE WELT" a German language newspaper as well as Emily Mills a first year journalism student at the Ryerson University and hoped that they would be active participants in the council. All members of the council wished Thomas Saras a very successful operation and a speedy recovery. End of Meeting: The chair adjourned the meeting at 9:00 p.m. The next meeting would take place on March 8, 2004.