Meeting Minutes - Oct. 17, 2005

NATIONAL ETHNIC PRESS AND MEDIA COUNCIL OF CANADA Conseil national de la presse et medias ethniques du Canada          Minutes of the monthly meeting held at Queen's Park on October 17, 2005 Main Legislative Building, Committee room # 2, Toronto Present: Thomas Saras        Patrides publications Srimal Abeyewardene    Sri Lankan Reporter Maxwell Wynter        Senior V-P Clyde McNeil        CHIN Radio Iraj Emad            Free Lance-Iranian publications Majid Zohari        Free Lance Anne Dawson        Controller Kenrick Bobb        Ambassador Magazine B. Ubale            Ombudsman Homagoun Rezewand    Voice of Today Radio Steve Hatzivasilis        On Line Media K. David Lin        Chinese Canadian Post Maryam Afgani        President Journalists in Exile Mohamed Tajdolati        Free Lance-Persian Ahmed Mohamed        African Publications Ahmed Shah Hotaki        Afghan Post Teshome Worleamenuel    TZAT Ethiopian William Doyle Marshall    Weekly Gleaner- Caribbean Jai Maharaj        CHIN Radio Producer Emmanuel Ayiku        Guyanian news   Allamgir Hussain        Bengali Neel Nanda        Recording Secretary Hasan Yilmaz        Canaturk Cindy Gu            The Epoch Times Robert Brackett        Multicom media (Italian, Portuguese, Latino) Antony Baron        Multicom Media Joe Mach            Multicom Media Masood Khan        The Eastern News Tania Nuttall        Brazil News Luba Cherny        Canadian Courier Massood Mashadi        Sherhravand Danielle Zhu        New Tang TV Hermie Garcia        The Philippine Reporter Ned Blair            Caribbean on Line Malcolm Cliffe        Photojournalist Saras John            Patrides on Line   Absent Elizabeth Wolski        Polish Publications Eva Wazda        German Publications Mona Feng        Chinese Publications Dominique Levalle        French Publications Josivaldo Rodriguez        Portuguese Publications   Special Guests: Keynote Speaker: Jean-Guy Fleury – Chairperson, Immigration and Refugee Board Jean-Pierre Lecours – Regional Director, Immigration and Refugee Board Charles Hawkins –Regional Communications Advisor, Immigration and Refugee Board   Agenda  1. Opening Remarks by the Chair (Two-minute silence in memory of the South Asian earthquake victims)  2. Minutes of the previous meeting  3. President's Report/Discussions  4. Presentation by Jean-Guy Fleury – Chairperson, Immigration and Refugee Board  5. Roundtable discussions with the delegation from Immigration and Refugee Board  6. New Business  7. End of meeting Opening Remarks by the Chair: The Chair, Clyde McNeil welcomed the members to the monthly meeting. Before proceeding with the regular business, there was a two-minute silence observed by the members in memory of the earthquake victims of South East Asia. Minutes of the Previous Meeting: Kenrick Bobb moved a motion seconded by William Doyle Marshall to approve the minutes of the monthly meeting held on September 12, 2005. It was carried. President's Report: The summary of the President's Report is as follows: -A motion moved by Thomas Saras seconded by Masood Manzoorzadeh to invite John Tory, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in Ontario as a guest speaker for the monthly meeting on November 14, 2005, was carried -The Annual get-together will take place on Friday December 9 at the Cypriot Community Centre in Thorncliffe Park from 6:00 p.m. onwards. -The office of the President lodged a complaint with the ministry of Public Works for not receiving Government advertising on the promised time by the department. -The Department of Public Works would meet with the members of the council in Toronto to address their concerns on the allotment of Government run Campaigns in ethnic publications. The date and the venue for this meeting would be notified to the members once the Department of PublicWorks gives a confirmation. -The President congratulated Ahmed Shah Hotaki for his efforts towards the "Word on the Street" Festival". -He congratulated also Luba Cherny, for her dedication and her hard work to promote the Council at the CNE. The President stated that out of 360 tickets given out to members for the CNE, according to his information only 160 used. According to Mr. Saras, this is unacceptable. -The Annual awards ceremony was an outstanding success, more than 400 individuals attended this function. -The Video Shooting Company would provide the copies of the videotape of the award function for a fee of $30 per copy. -A Delegation of Canada Border Services Agency led by Reg Williams, Director Greater Toronto Enforcement Centre will make a presentation to the Council in the monthly meeting of November 14.   Presentation by Jean-Guy Fleury – Chairperson, Immigration and Refugee Board The Chair welcomed the delegation from Immigration and Refugee Board and invited its Chairperson to make his Presentation before the NEPMCC. Jean-Guy Fleury thanked the council for the invitation and handed out an information package of the IRB along with a copy of his speaking notes to the members. He also introduced the other members of his delegation Jean-Pierre Lecours – Regional Director and Charles Hawkins –Regional Communications Advisor, Immigration and Refugee Board to the members of the NEPMCC. The following is the summary of his presentation: -Immigration and Refugee issues is always a great interest to the audiences of ethnic media and has taken greater interest right now in the context of the tragic earthquake that has devastated South Asia. -IRB and the NEPMCC have great mutual interest and fit in very well together looking at the objectives of both the organizations. -NEPMCC can play a significant role in educating its readership about the IRB as well educating to those who work in the IRB about the diverse reality of Canada. -Familiarized the members of the NEPMCC about the structure, mandate, jurisdiction and the limitations of the IRB. -Specific mention of the challenges facing the Refugee Protection Division and the future directions of the IRB -Present caseload with a focus on scheduling older cases and fast tracking straightforward ones. -Criteria for selection and recruiting process of new board members   Following this presentation the chairperson welcomed questions from the members of the NEPMCC. Clyde McNeil, Thomas Saras, Srimal Abeyawardene, Maxwell Wynter, Anne Dawson, Masood Mansoorzadeh, Kenrick Bobb, William Doyle Marshall, Alamgir Hussain and other members asked a wide variety of questions to the delegation ranging from -Average time of deliberation of cases -Acceptance rates of cases -Discretionary powers of Board Members and flexibility in following the set guidelines -Composition of the Board. -Complaints against erring board members -Advertising for job positions in ethnic publications   The Chairperson of the IRB along with his team members candidly answered all questions. The highlights of the responses were as follows: -The governing council has approximately 200 members and roughly 22-23% are from the visible minority -The Governing council appointees are appointed for basic period of three and more depending on various situations but not exceeding a period of ten years. -The tribunal should use its flexibility in rendering decisions, as it is not a court. -Members are not evaluated on the outcome of the cases -The national average of deliberation of cases is eleven months. Once a case has been heard the decision has to be rendered within a maximum of 60 days. The acceptance rate on average is around 40% -IRB would look into the possibility of advertising about positions and other community related issues in ethnic publications -Research department does country specific research for providing data and information that may be needed for evaluating cases. -There is a protocol and complaint mechanism in place against erring board members. The Chair on behalf of the council thanked the delegation from IRB for coming to the meeting and sharing information with the NEPMCC. Jean-Guy Fleury thanked NEPMCC for the invitation and expressed his willingness to come again whenever there is a need to hold further discussions Discussions: Following the President's report and after the roundtable discussions with the delegation from the Immigration and Refugee Board there were discussions on numerous topics. The highlights of these discussions is as follows: -Anne Dawson expressed disappointment at the very low participation of members at the Word on the Street festival. -There was suggestion that members attending the annual get-together give a donation $10 per head to the council. -The President urged the board of directors to be more involved with their respective portfolios. -Mr. Saras, thanked Maxwell Wynter and Anne Dawson, for their efforts and hard work for the preparation of the certificates and the metals also for the help they provided during the time of the preparation. -Members praised Thomas Saras for his leadership in organizing and managing the highly successful annual function. -Anne Dawson was congratulated for successfully conducting at the award ceremony. -Tanya Nutall advocated for setting out clear guidelines when accepting nominations and sending invitations to award winners. -Kenrick Bobb and Alamgir Hussain volunteered to help the President with specific tasks assigned to them.   New Business: -Ambassador Magazine is moving to a new location on November 01 and Kenrick Bobb gave an open invitation to all the members who would be willing to attend the grand opening. -The Chair welcomed the new members Humayun Razala from Voice of Today Radio and Joe March from Multicom Media into the Council -Cindy Gu, thanked the Council for its support to fight the “by law” introduced by the City of Toronto that would put a moratorium on new newspaper boxes in the streets of Toronto. The measures will hard mainly the Ethnic Publications Industry -Maxwell Wynter, the Senior Vice President of the Council, informed the members that he submitted a letter to mayor Miller supporting Cindy Gu and the Industry. End of Meeting: Srimal Abeyawardene moved a motion to adjourn the meeting and Masood Manzoorzadeh seconded it. It was carried by all. The Chair adjourned the meeting at 9:45 p.m. The next meeting would take place on November 14, 2005 at Queen’s Park. The minutes have been prepared by Neel Nanda, Recording Secretary and Assistant to the President, and confirmed by the President.