Minutes of the Monthly Meeting held on July 10, 2023, at City Hall Committee Room # 2 (hybrid meeting)

 

Present/Attendees

• Thomas S. Saras
• Mohammad Tajdolati
• Neel Nanda
• Maria Saras-Voutsinas
• Rosemary Sadlier
• Ricky Castellvi
• Hon. Joe Volpe
• Hon. Basilio Giordano
• Daniela Sprilac
• Michael Li
• Helen Wang
• Rue Hayer-Bains
• Zuhair Alshaaer
• Elsayed Nasr
• Ned Blair
• Jonathan Annobil
• Shahidul Mintu
• Deborah Shatz
• Kamalavasan Navaratnamv
• Pooyan Tabatabaei
• Martha Pinzon
• Nishantha Don
• Lankathas Pathmanathan
• Linda Karuks
• Liisa Qureshi
• Zenaida Ferry-Kharroubi
• George Guzmas
• Roberto Hausman
• Arif Ahmed
• Fiza Syeda
• Denis Poirier
• Ragee Arasaratnam
• Lydia Sun
• Leila Monteiro Lins
• Mohammed Bagher Samimi
• Ali Mahmoud
• Ghulam Rasool
• Anfisa Lyasota
• Ranjit Wicks
• Sandie De Freitas
• Norman Hart
• Kathy Lin
• Teshome Woldramanuel
• Khalid Magram
• Mooka Tamil
• Bobby Wang
• Maria Swietoizacki
• Mike Kolososki
• Khalid Hamid
• Nagamany Logendralingam
• Hermie Garcia
• Mila Garcia
• Eugenia Bakchinow
• Michael Li
• Sima Ghaffarzadeh
• Cezar Bangu
• Rui Yang
• HaiTien Lin
• Isa Melo
• Yuri Natchetoi
• John Saraidaris
• Said Henry
• Tom Bijoet
• Dimitri Papadopoulos
• Ahmad Shah Hotaki
• Kathy Gerasklis
• Athanasios Kourtesis
• Bill Fatsis
• Nishantha Don
• Thanasis Kourtesis
• Dimitri Papadopoulos
• George Bakoyannis
• Rosemary Sadlier
• Elsayed
• Tom Bijvoet
• John Saras
• Mohammad Tajdolati
• Manan Gupta
• Sean PICKARD
• John Jia CC Times
• Michael Li
• Emmanuel Ayiku
• Yuri Natchetoi
• Kathy Lin
• Ernesto Donan
• Susana Donan
• AR Nathan
• Watan E Maa (Popalzai)
• Denis Porier
• Syed Hassan
• Lucy Yang
• Weera Fonseka
• Krishalingham
• Ayuban Sri Lanka
• Raul (student from Corriere)

Agenda of the day

• Welcome Remarks by the chair.
• Minutes of the previous meeting
• President’s Report/Discussions
• Presentation by TBDC –Toronto Business Development Centre
• New Members/New Business
• Adjournment

Welcome Remarks by the Chair:

Mohammed Tajdolati chaired the virtual monthly meeting and declared the meeting open. Rosemary Sadlier moved a motion to approve the agenda. Roberto Hausman seconded it. The motion was carried unanimously.

 

Minutes of the previous meeting:

Ahmed Shah Hotaki moved a motion to approve the minutes of the previous monthly meeting and Yuri Natchetoi seconded it. Minutes of the previous monthly meeting were approved unanimously.

 President’s Report/Discussions:

• Thomas Saras welcomed everyone to the first in person monthly meeting of 2023 in July. He gave update of the various projects undertaken by NEPMCC.
• President Thomas Saras informed that all the members who were qualified for the LJI will be receiving cheques soon. He further added members qualified and hired students intern under the internship program will be also receiving their cheques in the coming weeks.
• President Thomas Saras informed the council that he will be visiting Vancouver to meet members of NEPMCC from the Province.
  President Saras and Chair Tajdolati reminded members of the annual membership fees for 2023.
• President Thomas Saras informed the members that the opening ceremony of the Ethnic Press Festival will take place on August 20, 2023. President Thomas Saras mentioned that NEPMCC will participate in this years Ethnic Press festival at CNE and will have the same booth as last year.
• He requested the members to submit copies of their publication for display at the NEPMCC booth at the CNE.
• President Thomas Saras informed the members under LJI, there are three computers available for members who applied. President Saras reminded all participants in the LJI and Internship programs that they must declare on their outlets that they are receiving financial assistance from the Government of Canada. Maria shared a link to the Government of Canada site with the logo and statement that must be declared by the member publication that has received funding.
• President Thomas Saras expressed disappointment as very few members have applied for the Student Internship program. He mentioned that this program may be could potentially terminated in future if there is lack of participation in the Student Intern Program by the members.
• President Saras encouraged participation in the Student Internship program. It has been a remarkably successful project and both students and publishers are benefiting immensely.
• President Saras explained that audits for the various programs we are administrating are happening.
• President Thomas Saras informed the members about the Business Innovation Program. President Thomas Saras informed the members that the Special Measures for Journalism has been launched and members who qualify can apply. The Special Measures for Journalism component provides funds to Canadian magazines and community newspapers. The Special Measures for Journalism component will provide funds for the 2023-2024 fiscal year to publishers that have a free circulation model or low levels of paid circulation or are published in digital format. Daily newspapers are not eligible for this component. The deadline for this application is July 21, 2023.

 Presentation by TBDC –Toronto Business Development Centre

• Sanjeev Verma along with his colleagues from TDBC made a detailed presentation on OINP-ESI

OINP –ESI (Entrepreneur Success Initiative)

• TBDC is an Ontario-wide business incubator, helping businesses launch, grow, and scale since 1990. TDBC is a not-for-profit multi-sector incubator set up in 1990 by the City of Toronto, that brings 30 years of experience in building businesses and business networks in Ontario. TDBC is proud to serve as a bridge between entrepreneurs worldwide and Ontario’s investors, industry associations, and government. The OINP Entrepreneur Success Initiative is a two- year initiative administered by the Toronto Business Development Centre to help prospective immigrant entrepreneurs identify business opportunities in Ontario and apply to the OINP Entrepreneur Stream. The OINP Entrepreneur Stream is a pathway for experienced international entrepreneurs to get a nomination for permanent residence in Canada by starting a new business or buying an existing one. The OINP Entrepreneur Stream is a pathway for experienced international entrepreneurs to move for more to Ontario by starting a new business or buying an existing one. This means you can come to Ontario as a temporary resident and if, after 20 months, you meet program requirements, you can be nominated for permanent residence in Canada. The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program is the province of Ontario’s economic immigration program to attract the skills and experience Ontario needs. In partnership with the Government of Canada through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), it is a pathway to permanent residence in Canada. The Entrepreneur Success Initiative is a two-year initiative supported by Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training, and Skills Development and is administered by Toronto Business Development Centre (TBDC). The Entrepreneur Success Initiative is for entrepreneurs who are interested in immigrating to Canada by establishing a new business or buying and growing an existing business outside of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
• Following the presentation by TBDC there was questions and answer period.
• Yuri Natchetoi, Nishant Don, Maria Saras Voutsinas, Neel Nanda asked various questions on the scope of work by TBDC.
• TDBC would forward an article based on the scope of OINP-ESI for the members of NEPMCC.
• The chair thanked all the members from TBDC for their presentation.

New Business/Discussions

• The chair asked if there are any new business for discussion, as nobody asked for the floor, the Chair moved to next item. Maria Saras Voutsinas gave everyone an update on the various ongoing projects under NEPMCC.

Adjournment:  

Ahmed Shah Hotaki moved a motion to adjourn the meeting and Yuri Natchetoi seconded it. The motion was carried. The Chair, Dr. Tajdolati adjourned the meeting at 8:30 PM. The next monthly meeting will take place on Monday, August 14 10, 2023, via Zoom.

The above notes from the meeting of July 10, 2023, were prepared by Secretary General and Senior VP of the NEPMCC, Neel Nanda.