Meeting Minutes - May 10, 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 May 10, 2004 Present: Thomas Saras Sremial Abeyawardene Maxwell Wynter Hassan Zerehi Iraz Emad Josivaldo Rodrigues Anne Dawson Kendrick Bob Herman Silochan B. Ubale Dominique Leval Teshome Worldeamannuel Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed Shah Hotaki Marek J. Cooldyn Hermie Garcia Mila Gercia Tania Nuttall Ahmed Mohamed Sara Zerehi Luis Fernando Poscinsci Emmanuel Ayiku Indranil Nanda Emily Mills Nahed El Taher Cindy Gu Dirk Tissera Absent: Angela Kabouris Mona Feng   Special Guest: Efthymios Efthymiades – Consul General of Greece.   Agenda 1 Minutes of the previous meeting 2.Presentation by Consul General of Greece 3. President’s Report 4. Discussions 5.End of meeting   Dr. Ubale chaired the meeting and began the proceedings of the house. He asked the council to approve the minutes of the previous monthly meeting held on April 12, 2004.   Minutes of the Previous Meeting: Srimal Abeyawardane moved a motion seconded by Hassan Zerehi to approve the minutes of the monthly meeting held on April12, 2004. It was carried.   Presentation by Consul General of Greece: Thomas Saras, the President of the NEPMCC introduced the Hon. Efthymios Efthymiades, the Consul General of Greece, to the members of the council. He told the council that the Consul General of Greece is specially invited in the meeting to brief the ethnic media on the preparations of the Athens Olympics. Dr. Ubale, the chair of the meeting, then invited the Consul General to make his presentation to the council. Mr.Efthymios Efthymiades, began his presentation by distributing handouts on the preparations of the Olympics to the members of the council. He said that Athens is progressing very well towards it preparations in hosting this event. . He then emphasized that the Athens Olympic Games will combine history, culture and peace with sports. The people of Greece shall host unique Games on a human scale, inspiring the world to celebrate the Olympic values. He then highlighted on the following aims and objectives of hosting the games. -To organize technically excellent Olympic Games -To provide the athletes, spectators, viewers, and volunteers, a unique Olympic experience, thus leaving behind a legacy for the Olympic movement. -To display the Olympic ideals in a contemporary setting through their traditional Greek symbols. -To promote and implement the Olympic Truce through the Torch Relay -To control the commercial aspect of the Olympic Games -To promote the cultural and natural heritage of Greece to the eyes of the world -To showcase the achievements of modern Greece and its potential for the future. He then mentioned that a total of 160,000 volunteers from all over the world have registered to provide assistance in hosting the games. He then took questions from the council and gave detailed answers on a wide range of topics from the security arrangements for the games, to infrastructure and the cost of hosting this event. He said that his office would provide all possible assistance to any member wishing to attend the games. Dr Ubale, the chair thanked the Consul General for spending his valuable time with the council and wished the games a grand success. The Consul General thanked Thomas Saras for the invitation and told that he would send press releases and updates on the progress of the games to any ethnic newspaper that required the desired information.   President's Report/Discussions: Thomas Saras informed the council that Heritage Canada has indicated to him of organizing another conference this year in partnership with NEPMCC. He also received assurances from the officials of Heritage Canada that the council would be receiving funds for developing an infrastructure for the ethnic media industry. In this regard three officials from Heritage Canada would come to Toronto on May 13 to have a dialogue with the council for future cooperation. He told the council that he has arranged a breakfast meeting on May 13 at Palace Restaurant around 9:30 a.m. This would cost the council only $300 and asked the members if they had any reservations with the proposal. The council unanimously approved the proposal and thanked the President for organizing this meeting. The President then confirmed the names of the members who would participate in this meeting. Thomas Saras told the council that he would be meeting the Senate Committee in Ottawa on May 25 to make a presentation on the problems facing the ethnic media industry. He told the council that he would be driving to Ottawa at his own expenses and he will be happy to accommodate 3-4 members who are interested in being a part of the delegation, but the members would have to arrange for their own resources for staying overnight in Ottawa. He said members would have to contribute their ideas before the drafting of the report, which will be presented before the special Senate Committee. The President then discussed on the possible future meeting with the Prime Minister and said it will take him around three weeks to co-ordinate the event. He has already spoken with a couple of major hotels in downtown Toronto who would be willing to offer discount if such an event takes place. He encouraged the members to come in large numbers with their stuff to attend the event to show the unified strength of the ethnic media. Thomas Saras then reminded the members on the “ word on the street:” festival and urged them to display their newspapers and attend the event in large numbers. Thomas Saras also informed the members that he approached the Ontario Provincial Government for funds and asked them for advertisements on the annual book. He said that he also approached all other provincial governments asking them each for one full -page advertisement in the annual book of the NEPMCC. He said members wishing to advertise in the annual book would get special discounts for their advertisements. He informed the members that he approached the Federal Government for sponsoring a student who would assist with the editorial of the annual book and the preparations of the conference. As a result he was advised to open a payroll account and business account with Revenue Canada. Thomas Saras told the council that the student would be trained to prepare editorials and would also assist in the preparations of the annual event and the conference. He said this would greatly reduce the burden from him and also help the student to gain valuable experience. The President then inquired with the progress of the awards committee and asked the committee to make its recommendations   Dominique Leval, the chair of the Awards Committee made the following recommendations to the council. 1) Only NEMPCC members with paid membership for a minimum of one year will be allowed to nominate individuals for the awards. Members who do not meet this criterion will not be permitted to nominate others. 2) Photographs must be included with all application packages or they will not be considered. 3) Late applications will not be considered. 4) Dress code for the NEMPCC Awards will be business/formal attire. The committee was concerned about inappropriate dress at last year’s event. 5) Those attending the awards must RSVP with a maximum of four guests. The committee was concerned about shortage of tables last year and disruption of the event because additional tables had to be supplied to accommodate an unexpected number of guests. 6) Formal invitations will be sent out this year. 7) Efforts will be made to invite special guests from the media industry, not just politicians. Suggestions included the president of Ryerson University, Professor John Miller etc. The committee must also nominate 10 individuals from within the NEPMCC for the awards.   Discussions: There were numerous discussions on the ethno- media week. Anne Dawson suggested of issuing tickets to guests interested in attending the awards ceremony and dinner at Liberty Grand. Many members supported her suggestion. Ahmed Mohammed volunteered to help the President for all possible assistance towards preparing the annual book. Thomas Saras suggested of honouring deserving visible minority students in journalism by offering them a token of scholarship and asked the council of deciding on a certain fixed amount every year dedicated for deserving minority students in journalism. He asked Emily Mills to co-ordinate on this issue with Ryerson University.   End of Meeting: The chair adjourned the meeting at 9:00 p.m. The next meeting would take place on June 14, 2004.