Meeting Minutes - Jan. 10, 2005

Minutes of the monthly meeting held at Queen's Park on January 10, 2005 Present: Thomas Saras Srewmial Abeyawardene Maxwell Wynter Neel Nanda Clyde McNeal Hassan Zerehi Anne Dawson Kendrick Bob B. Ubale Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed Shah Hotaki Marek J. Cooldyn William Doyle Marshall Jai Maharaj Emmanuel Ayiku Emily Mills Cindy Gu Dirk Tissera Tanya Nutall Hermie Garcia Milla Garcia Herman Silochan Shahram Saremi Teshome Wordemmanuel Mohamed Tajdolati Fernando Gosinscki Massood Mansoorrzadze. Sybille Forster John Saraidaris   Absent Mona Feng   Agenda 1. Minutes of the previous meeting 2. President's Report 3.Discussions 4. New Business 5.End of meeting The Chair, Clyde McNeil welcomed everyone to the meeting and wished all the members of the Council a very happy New Year. He then called the meeting to order. He asked the Council to approve the minutes of the previous monthly meeting held on December 13, 2004. Minutes of the Previous Meeting: Hassan Zerehi moved a motion seconded by Masood to approve the minutes of the monthly meeting held on December 13, 2004. It was carried.      President's Report/Discussions:  Thomas Saras began his report by expressing his sincere condolences to the victims of the tsunami disaster. He said the magnitude of the disaster has far reaching consequences and the members should continue to write on this issue in their editorials in order to continue the momentum and support in the rebuilding process. He said during his last meeting with the Premier, he was urged by the Premier to encourage the members to continue writing editorials on the front pages of their publications, as the campaign for the victims must carry on. Thomas Saras also spoke on the Vigil organized by the Premier on January 08, 2005 in remembering the victims of the tsunami disaster. He expressed his disappointment as very few members of the Council and even fewer from the communities attended this Vigil. The President also mentioned of his meeting with the Prime Minister and leaders of the South Asian Community in Toronto to discuss the efforts undertaken, by the Canadian Government to rebuild the lives of the victims affected by the killer waves. He also made a reference to the visit of the leader of the opposition the Hon. Steven Harper and his help and support to volunteers of the South Asian Communities. Mr. Harper also spoke about his plans to oppose the same sex marriages. Thomas Saras informed the council that Professor John Miller of the Ryerson University expressed his interest in undertaking a joint venture with NEPMCC in drafting a research paper on the issues affecting the ethnic media. A person nominated by the NEPMCC would assist Professor Miller in this research project. The person assisting Professor Miller would be monetarily compensated for his/her efforts and time in the project. The President told the council that a mailing company is interested in making a presentation of their special rates to the council over a dinner at an appropriate venue. He mentioned that the company is interested in providing special rates to the members of this council for all their mailing and shipping needs. Thomas Saras informed the Council that the members of the  NEPMCC would meet with the Department of Public Works, at an appropriate venue in Toronto on February 24, 2005, at the Toronto Delta Hotel, in order to hold an important dialogue on the issue of dealing directly with the Agency of records when the Department had any advertising campaign they wish to embark on. He inform the members that all of them will be receiving invitations to participate by the PWC. The President reminded the members that elections of the NEPMCC are scheduled to take place in March and urged all the members to be present for the monthly meeting in March. He also asked the members to renew their annual membership fee of $ 25.00 dollars or they will not allowed to participate in the democratic process. Thomas Saras mentioned that the Council received congratulatory messages from various quarters for the powerful testimony by the NEPMCC in the Senate. The President concluded his report by mentioning that the annual dinner was grand success. He said the event was conducted in a professional manner and was very well attended by the Premier, various provincial ministers, MPPs, councilors and officials from various government agencies. He also thanked Premier McGunty for accepting the position on the Hon. Chair of the Board. Discussions: The chair of the meeting opened the floor for discussions following the President's Report. He asked the council if any members had any reservations towards the project proposed by Professor Miller A motion was then unanimously passed to give Thomas Saras the authority to accept the proposal by Professor Miller and start the project in partnership with his office.   The chair invited the members to give their suggestions towards the proposal made by the mailing company. Many members shared their ideas on this issue. After hearing opinions from the members the chair decided to put the matter on vote. There were mainly two suggestions in front of the member, which were A) Whether the council should accept the dinner invitation by the mailing company to discuss their proposal B) If the council should invite the company to make their presentation at one of the monthly meeting of the NEPMCC. The council voted in favour of inviting the company to make their presentation at one of the monthly meetings.   Max Wynter inquired on an article, which was supposed to be written by Herman Silochan and circulated to the members for printing in their publications. The article was supposed to be based on the outcome of the meeting of a delegation of NEPMCC with the special Senate committee. William Doyle Marshall suggested that the article should be now written in a manner, in which it is still newsworthy, as the article has not been published earlier. Sybil Foster emphasized the need for stronger communication between the members in order to demonstrate to the various government offices that we are serious players.   Discussions on the tsunami relief efforts: The chair opened the floor for discussions on the efforts taken by various groups to cope with the disaster that has affected hundreds of thousands of lives in South East Asia. Thomas Saras told the council that he received a phone call from the Premier’s office, where the Premier asked him to convey to the members of the council that they should carry on to highlight the plight of the victims in their newspapers to keep the momentum of the relief efforts alive in their respective communities. Many members spoke about the efforts their respective communities are undertaking to raise money for the victims of the tsunami disaster. Hermie Garcia, Sybil Foster and other members spoke categorically on the efforts their respective associations are taking to raise money for the relief efforts. Discussions on elections to be held in March, 2005: The chair emphasized the significance of a strong working organization to continue the progress the council has made over the years. He said enthusiastic volunteers are needed to fill in important positions. He also asked for volunteers eager to officiate in the election process. As a result a committee was formed that would oversee the election process. The committee comprised of the following: Cindy Gu Masood William Doyle Marshall   New Business: The chair welcomed the new member Ned Blair of the Caribbean Graphic Online to the council and hoped that he would actively participate in all future events. Cindy Gu made a brief presentation on the series of editorial from her newspaper The Epoch Times titled the Nine Commentaries, where a detail analysis is made on how the Chinese Communist Party have systematically used violence, oppression, abuse of human rights to further their agenda. This article concerns the impact on the civilization of China of the communist movement and the Communist Party. Looking at the history of China’s last 160 years, nearly one hundred million people have died unnatural deaths and almost all of the traditional Chinese culture and civilization have been destroyed. She said many communist party members have expressed displeasure with the functioning of the communist party.  With various forums organized worldwide, to condemn the 55 years of atrocities by the CCP, demise of the Chinese Communist Party is only a matter of time. Cindy Gu mentioned she would soon organize a forum on the Nine Commentaries and invited the members to participate in the forum.   End of meeting: The chair, Clyde McNeil adjourned the meeting at 8:30 p.m. The next meeting would take place on February 14, 2005 at Queens Park. The Minutes have been prepared by Neel Nanda.