Meeting Minutes - Aug. 10, 2006

Meeting Minutes of the monthly meeting held at Queen's Park on August 10, 2006 Present: Thomas Saras Dr. Bikram Lamba Sremal Abeyawardene Clyde McNeil Hassan Zerehi Irene Keregolidis Maryam Aghvami Ahmed Shah Hotaki William Doyle Marshall Emmanuel Ayiku Trifon Haitas Sherlana Waithe Dumitru Popesku Hasan Yilmaz Mohamed Tajdolati Teshome Worldeamanuel Josivaldo Rodrigues Neel Nanda H.C. Lim (Manitoba Tribune) Shahrokh Saeedi Ned Blair William Boateng Tamas Jovanovski Alamgir Hussain Ranjit Wickramashout David Fernandes Shahram Saremi Luba Cherny K. Arasaratnam Stephani Williams Ali Eshghi Cindy Gu Tanya Nutal Absent: Kenrick Bobb Elizabeth Wolski Mona Feng   Special Guests: Doug Kellam- Director Communications, Citizenship and Immigration Canada Elisete Bettencourt – Regional Program Advisor, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (Settlement Directorate Ontario Region) Irena Nikolova – Settlement Officer, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (Settlement Directorate Ontario Region)     Agenda: 1. Opening Remarks by the Chair 2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting 3. Presentation by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (Settlement Directorate –Ontario Region) 4. President’s Report/ Discussions 5. End of meeting   Opening Remarks by the Chair: The chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked the members to approve the minutes of the previous monthly meeting, if there were no reservations.   Minutes of the previous meeting: Dr Lamba moved a motion to approve the minutes of the monthly meeting held on July 10, 2006. Hassan Zerehi seconded it. The motion was carried.   Presentation by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (Settlement Directorate, Ontario Region). Doug Kellam and the rest of his team from Citizenship and Immigration Canada made a presentation, followed by roundtable discussions. Thomas Saras, William –Doyle Marshall, Dr. Lamba, Srimal Abeyewardene, Irene Keregolodis, Maryam Aghvami, Alamgir Hussain Clyde McNeil, Stephanie Williams and other members participated in the discussion. The following is the summary of the presentations and discussions -Doug Kellam thanked Thomas Saras for his efforts in getting the communities together in the aftermath of the Tsunami Disaster. -Ethnic media plays a key role in informing its audience about various immigration programs launched by the Government. -The current Federal Minister for Citizenship and Immigration would soon meet with the members of the NEPMCC to discuss policy issues facing the immigrant community. -Citizenship and Immigration Canada, with it’s three departments Immigration and Refugee Board, Canadian Border Services Agency and the Settlement Directorate world provide tools to the council members so that they can better inform the community. -Irena Nikolova gave a brief overview of the current settlement programs launched by her department and distributed a handout containing the information package of the various programs and services that are available to the new immigrants. -Members of the NEPMCC were also informed about the various information products launched by the Government of Canada, such as the Canadian Newcomer Magazine where stories of new immigrants are documented in the journal. -The Settlement Directorate is looking for partnership with the members of the NEPMCC to distribute its newsletter among the various communities. -The information packages of various programs launched by the Government of Canada are also available in DVD and in their web site www.settlement.org. The First Step Handbook and DVD is available in over 20 languages. The handbook and the DVD contain information on Resettlement Assistance Program, Housing, Health, Education, Employment, Services in the Community, Living in Canada and so on. -The Various programs and services are offered by the Federal and Provincial Immigration ministry and are well coordinated. -Members urged the visiting delegation to do more in making the First Steps Handbook available in several other languages that are not included in the list in which the handbook is published. -Members suggested to the visiting delegation that a number of these programs should be also available in the Canadian Consulates overseas, so that the immigrants can start their preparation of settling in Canada in their home Countries and be better prepared to face life when they arrive in Canada. -There were numerous discussions on how to better disseminate information about the programs and services offered by the Settlement Directorate. -There was a general consensus that the best way to inform the ethnic communities is by advertising the programs and services offered by Immigration Canada in the various ethnic publication since ethnic communities rely heavily on their respective publications as their primary source of information. -The various departments of Immigration is interested in forming partnership with the NEPMCC in order to better deliver the programs and services to the new immigrant communities. Thomas Saras suggested of forming a joint committee that would coordinate various activities and events with the Federal and Immigration Ministry. Thomas Saras and the Chair of the meeting Clyde McNeil thanked the guests for their time and promised all possible help in disseminating the information of their programs and services to the readership of ethnic publications and hoped for increased advertising and sustained cooperation to serve the communities of Canada.   President's Report: -Government run advertising on National childcare was not evenly distributed in the ethnic media. -The President has been in touch with Laurent Marcoux of Public Works Canada to protest against the unfair distribution of Government run Child -Care campaigns. -Thomas Saras has sent an email to the PMO informing their office, on their commitment not fulfilled by Public Works Canada in distributing Government ads evenly among the ethnic publications. -The President urged all the members of the NEPMCC to run a common first page editorial protesting about the unfair distribution of Government run Ad campaigns. The editorial would be   proof read by Dr. Lamba and circulated for publishing to all members of the NEPMCC -The food menu for the citizenship ceremony on August 24 was prepared taking into consideration the religious sentiments of various communities. -Shahram Sharehi volunteered to get the food from Mississauga, which would be served to the guests during the citizenship ceremony on August 24 at the CNE. -Hassan Yilmaz volunteered to bring the Souvlaki from Danforth. -Alamgir Hussain, Ahmedshah Hotaki, Iraj Emad, Yamir Mahim would be the other members who volunteered to serve food to the guests and provide other assistance during the citizenship ceremony at the CNE on August 24. -The President urged all the members to be present on August 24 at the CNE for the citizenship ceremony by 10:30 AM. -Tanya Nutall, Irene Keregolidis, Almeire Santos and Maryam Aghvami would be welcoming guests during the citizenship ceremony at the CNE. -Maryam Aghvami would make a presentation on behalf of the NEPMCC at the citizenship ceremony on August 24. -Thomas Saras distributed tickets to the members at the end of the meeting -Thomas Saras informed the council that NEPMCC would have it’s own new office at the City Hall by the first week of September. -The Federal Minister for External Affairs Hon: Peter McKay would present in one of the monthly meetings this year. -Thomas Saras suggested the annual book, which would be published next year, would feature stories of the members of NEPMCC and their publications and their contribution n serving their respective communities. -Thomas Saras would have an operation on the 14th of September, which is the proposed day of the award ceremony hosted by the Lieutenant Governor. The President urged others to display leadership in carrying on the event in case the award giving ceremony takes place on 15th of September. -There is a dress code in effect for the award giving ceremony. There will be a reception after the award giving ceremony. Luba Cherny is responsible for arranging the music for the reception.   New Business: -Bahar Aminvaziria city council candidate for ward 26 made a brief presentation on the crucial issues facing her constituents. She is running for a safer, healthier and stronger community.   New Members: The chair welcomed the following new members to the council Michelle Williams- Director and Producer, Music Flava TV Sherlana Wade –Host, Music Flava TV Katayaun Pejman – Freelance Writer (English Persian, French) Hossain Tojada – Persian TV The chair hoped that the new members would be active participants for the cause of the ethnic media industry.   Members of the NEPMCC stood up for 2 minutes before the end of meeting to offer prayer for the successful operation of the President followed by a speedy recovery End of Meeting: Srimal Abeyewardene moved a motion to adjourn the meeting and Dr.Lamba seconded it. It was carried by all. The Chair adjourned the meeting at 9:45 p.m. The next meeting would take place on September 11, 2006 at Queen’s Park.   The above minutes of the meeting of the NEPMCC prepared by Neel Nanda, recording Secretary of the organization and verified by the members of the executive.