Meeting Minutes - Sep. 11, 2006

Meeting Minutes of the monthly meeting held at Queen's Park on September 11, 2006 Present: Thomas Saras Srmial Abeyawardene Clyde McNeil Hassan Zerehi Dr.B. Lamba Aaron Berhane Irene Keregolidis Maryam Aghvami Taha Hassaniani Ahmed Shah Hotaki Fred Pourtaher William Doyle Marshall Mohamed Tajdolati Katapour Pejman Josivaldo Rodrigues Hasan Yilmaz Trifon Haitas Teshome Woldeamanuel Cindy Gu William Boateng Dumitru Popescu Massood Mashadi Saraidaris John Pooyan Tabatabaci David Ferninands Ranjir Wickramasangir Soo Wong Mona Feng Hermie Garcia Mila Garcia Emmanuel Ayiku Tanya Nutal Absent: Kenrick Bobb Tania Nuttall Special Guests: Dr. Digafie Debalke -  Project Officer, International Centre of UPEACE in Toronto. Sue ( Candidate for Toronto District School Board, Scarborough- Agincourt)   Agenda: 1. Opening Remarks by the Chair 2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting 3. Presentation by Dr. Digafie Debalke -  Project Officer, International Centre of UPEACE in Toronto President's Report/ Discussions 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 August 14, 2006. Hassan Zerehi seconded it. The motion was carried. Presentation by Dr. Digafie Debalke -  Project Officer, International Centre of UPEACE in Toronto. Dr.Digafie and the rest of his team from UPEACE Canad made a presentation, followed by roundtable discussions. Thomas Saras, William –Doyle Marshall, Dr. Lamba, Srimal Abeyewardene, Irene Keregolodis, Maryam Aghvami, William Doyle Marshall, Hassan Yilmaz, Hermie Garcia, Clyde McNeil, Stephanie Williams and other members participated in the discussion. The following is the summary of the presentations and discussions   In July 2005, the University for Peace (UPEACE) started the preparatory work to launch an International Centre of UPEACE in Canada that would provide a focus for education, training and dialogue on critical issues related to the building of peace and the prevention of violence and conflict. The establishment of an International Centre of UPEACE in Canada was endorsed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his 9 March 2004 address to Canada's Parliament, noting it as a further advance in Canada's pioneering contributions to global conflict prevention and peacebuilding. On 20 July 2004, Canada's then-Prime Minister Paul Martin announced his support of the establishment of the Centre as a part of the federal government's commitment to Toronto's waterfront revitalization. It is envisaged that a UPEACE International Centre in Canada would contribute to UPEACE's central mission to strengthen education for peace globally, in particular, by: -Leveraging North American experience and expertise to enrich the worldwide education, training and research programmes of UPEACE and its partners. -Reinforcing and amplifying the capacity of North American institutions engaged in formal, informal or non-formal education for peace. -Developing and delivering high quality programmes of education and training on strategic themes related to building peace, lessening violence and managing conflict. -Expanding the opportunities and channels available for the Canadian public to participate in formal and non-formal education for peace -UPEACE would undertake a joint venture with NEPMCC to fulfill its objectives   A small secretariat has been established in Toronto to undertake the preparatory work towards launching a UPEACE International Centre in Canada. 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 curriculum to the readership of ethnic publications and hoped for increased advertising and sustained cooperation to serve the communities of Canada.   President's Report/Discussions -Government run advertising on National child -care 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 stressed the importance of proper dress code for the L.G award ceremony. -The citizenship ceremony on August 24 at the CNE was a grand success. -Thomas Saras praised Hassan Yilmaz, Sharam Sharehi, Irene Keroglidis, and the rest of the committee members for their hard work in the citizenship ceremony -The official photographers at the award ceremony would only be authorized to take pictures for the function and record the function. -Maryam Aghvami would be announcing the names of the awardees during the function -Only members who had RSVP their intention of attending the function would be able to seat during the function. Members who have not RSVP their invitation can come to the function but would not get the seat. -The office space for NEPMCC in City Hall would be cleared once the National Post evacuates from the City Hall. -The food menu for the citizenship ceremony on August 24 was prepared taking into consideration the religious sentiments of various communities. -There will be family dinner for the members of NEPMCC in the month of October , honouring some of the member publications in that event.. -Tanya Nutall, Irene Keregolidis, Cindy Gu, Almeire Santos and Maryam Aghvami did an excellent job of welcoming guests during the citizenship ceremony at the CNE. -Maryam Aghvami made great a presentation on behalf of the NEPMCC at the citizenship ceremony on August 24 -The Federal Minister for External Affairs Hon: Peter MacKay would come for a Round Table discussion with members of the NEPMCC, hopefully 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 in serving their respective communities. -Thomas Saras would have an operation on the 15th of September, he would resume duties immediately if the operation goes successful.   New Business: -Sue made a presentation to the council on the reasons she is running for the Toronto District Board (Scarborough –Agincourt). Her experience as a former trustee to the school board and her teaching experience in Community College gives her the edge over other candidates. -She listed her priorities , should she be elected to the School Board. -She diligently answered all questions posed to her by the members of the NEPMCC.   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.   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 October 16, 2006 at Queen’s Park.