Minutes of the Monthly Meeting held on April 08, 2024, through video conference via Zoom.
Present/Attendees
Thomas S. Saras
Mohammad Tajdolati
Neel Nanda
Maria Saras-Voutsinas
Rosemary Sadlier
Ricky Castellvi
George Guzman
Bill Fastis
Nishantha Don
Hon. Basilio Giordano
George Bakoyiannis
Dimitri Papadopoulos
AR Nathan
Arif Ahmed
Zenaida Ferry
Ravi
Ranjit Wicks
Hermie Garcia
Ghulam Rasool
Manan Gupta
Elsayed Nasr
Khalid Hamid
Thanasis Kourtesis
John Saraidaris
Ernesto Donan
Martha Pinzon
Nishantha Don
Bridgette Fontille
Sukumar Tamil Journal
Roberto Hausman
Jonathan Annobil
Emmanuel Ayiku
Mohammad Bagher Samimi
Kathy Gerasklis
Rick Esquerra
Mila Garcia
Medhat Oweida
Syed Hasson
Sima Ghaffarzadeh
Shahidul Mintu
Lui Queano
Denis Poirier
Jennifer Zhu
Hon. Joe Volpe
Ayubowan Sri Lanka
Leila Monteiro Lins
Deborah Shatz
Gezahegn Mekonnen
Daniela Spirlac
Lankathas Pathmanathan
Susana Donan
Kethes Kumar
Michael Li
Shail Prasad
Essie
Veronica Cusi
Ragee Arasaratnam
Fiza Syeda
Yuri Natchetoi
Khalid Hamid
Michale Li
Maria Swietorzecki
Lucy Lyang
Elsayed Nasr
George Guzmas
MB Samimi
Susana Donan
Neel Nanda
Mohammad Tajdolati
Olga Kaleev
AR Nathan
Ragee
Nishantha Don
Ayuban SriLanka
Basilio Giordano
Manan Gupta
Ernesto Donan
Kathy Lin
Sima Ghaffarzadeh
Denis Poirier
Ghanian News
Fiza Syeda
Rue Hayer-Bains
Leila Monteiro- Lins
Eugenia Bakchinow
Ghulam Rasool
Ranjith Wicks
Kathy Gerasklis
Hermie Garcia
Luba Cherny
Helen Wang
Taso Chatzitheofanou
Sean Pickard
Jonathan Annobil
Said Henry
(Names as per Zoom)
Mila Garcia
Goyum
Tausif
Zuhair Alshaaer
MB Samimi
Gonzalo Cooper
Thomas Saras
Ragee Arasaratnam
Mohammad Tajdolati
Ned Blair
Helen Wang
Dimitri Papadopoulos
Pooyan Tabatabaei
Elsayed Nasr
Margaret Bonikowska
Ernesto Donan
Susana Donan
Yuri Natchetoi
Deborah Shatz
Roberto Hausman
Tamil Journal
Olga Kileev
Neel Nanda
Hermie Garcia
Kathy Gerasklis
Rosemary Sadlier
Shahidul Mintu
George Guzmas
Basilio Giordano
Logan Logendralingam
John- CCTimes
Lucy Lyang
Elena Iliadi
Houman
Kamal Nava
Ayubowan SriLanka
Liisa Qureshi
AR Nathan
Martha Pinzon
Zenaida Ferry-Kharroubi
Ghulam Rasool
Jennifer Zhu
Syed Hassan
Shail Persaud
Agenda of the day:
- Welcome Remarks by the chair.
- Minutes of the previous meeting
- President’s Report/Discussions
- New Members/New Business
- Adjournment
Welcome Remarks by the Chair:
Mohammed Tajdolati chaired the virtual monthly meeting of April 08, 2024, and declared the meeting open. Roberto Hausman moved a motion to approve the agenda. Pooyan Tabatabaei seconded it. The motion was carried unanimously.
Minutes of the previous meeting:
Yuri Natchetoi moved a motion to approve the minutes of the previous monthly meeting and Pooyan Tabatabaei seconded it. Minutes of the previous monthly meeting were approved unanimously.
President’s Report/Discussions:
- President Thomas Saras welcomed everyone to the online monthly meeting of April 8, 2024. He hoped the coming months will be great for everyone. He also reminded members to pay their annual membership fees to continue to get the benefits and privileges as a member of NEPMCC.
- President Thomas Saras mentioned that LJI and Student Internship Program has been updated for the next three years.
- Motion: Miniter of Heritage demanded a coordinator to be a liaison between the federally run LJI and Student Internship programs and NEPMCC. The name of Maria Saras Voutsinas was suggested as the coordinator of the Federally run programs. George Guzmas moved the motion supporting Maria Saras as the coordinator of the Federally run programs funded by the Ministry of Canadian Heritage. Shahidul Islam Mintu seconded it. The motion was unanimously carried.
- President Thomas Saras suggested that the Freedom of Press Festival be held on May 10 at City Hall. The suggestion was unanimously carried. There will be a reception at the City Hall.
- Margaret Bonikowska suggested of raising the membership fee. She also suggested that we need to spend resources in upgrading the website of NEPMCC. There were various discussions regarding this. Many members contributed their ideas towards upgrading the website. Pooyan Tabatabaei, George Guzmas, Dimitri Papadopoulous, Liisa Qureshi and others participated in the discussion. It was decided that a committee would look into the suggestions of upgrading NEPMCC website. Hermie Garcia, Yuri Natchetoi, Tamil Journal, Zuahir Alshaaer volunteered to be a part of this committee.
- President Thomas Saras mentioned that Educational Seminar will be held next year. The office of the President of NEPMCC is working towards the educational seminar and more updates will be provided after finalizing the logistics.
- President Thomas Saras informed the members that any members receiving funds from either LJI or Aid to Publications should declare that they have received funding funds from the Government of Canada. He also mentioned that anyone writing an article under LJI should acknowledge that he is a LJI reporter.
- President Thomas Saras mentioned that in person meeting at City Hall will resume once broadcasting from City Hall will be permitted by technological requirements. President Thomas Saras wants `the meeting to be accessible to members in all parts of Canada.
- President Thomas Saras mentioned that NEPMCC has been trying hard to negotiate a better deal from Google regarding the compensation for the members of the ethnic media industry.
- President Thomas informed members about the Freedom of Press Festival in May. Motion: There was a motion on the floor to approve the expenses for the freedom of press festival, which would take place on May 10 at the City Hall. Kathy Lin moved a motion and Leila Monteiro Lins seconded it. The motion was carried unanimously.
- Naga Logendralingam suggested that we should honour journalists who have lost their lives for the cause of the freedom of the press. Hon. Joe Volpe suggested that this should be brought to the attention of the committee.
- President Thomas Saras thanked Hon Joe Volpe and all other members who generously donated to NEPMCC. Although the industry and members of NEPMCC are struggling financially, he encouraged everyone that can do so to donate. He also reminded the members for renewing their membership by paying their annual membership fees.
- There were various discussions on the method of payment of Annual Membership fees as some members suggested e-transfer and other methods of payments. After various consultation it was decided to keep the existing payment method of payment of Annual Membership fees via cheque mailed to the office of NEPMCC
New Business/New Members
Maria Saras Voutsinas informed that “What Jennifer Di” a documentary based on the story of Jennifer Pan and co-produced by one of the members of NEPMCC, Paul Nguyen is releasing in Netflix on April 10 and is highly rated by the critics.
Adjournment: Dimitri Papadopolous moved a motion to adjourn the meeting and George Guzmas seconded it. The motion was carried. The Chair, Dr. Tajdolati adjourned the meeting at 8:15 PM. The next monthly meeting will take place on Monday, May 13, 2024, via Zoom.
The above notes from the minutes of April 08, 2024, were prepared by Secretary General and Senior VP of the NEPMCC, Neel Nanda.