Minutes of the Monthly Meeting held on July 08, 2024, at City Hall, 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 hybrid meeting of July 08, 2024, and declared the meeting open. Yuri Natchetoi moved a motion to approve the agenda. Dimitri Papadopoulos seconded it. The motion was carried unanimously.
Minutes of the previous meeting:
Dimitri Papadopoulous moved a motion to approve the minutes of the previous monthly meeting and Margaret Bonikowiska seconded it. Minutes of the previous monthly meeting were approved unanimously.
President’s Report/Discussions:
- President Thomas Saras welcomed everyone to the monthly meeting of July 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. He mentioned that those who applied for media passes can collect it.
- President Thomas Saras informed that Ontario government might allocate funds to ethnic publications based in Ontario.
- President Thomas Saras thanked Maria Voutsinas for her tireless work towards the betterment of the members of NEPMCC.
- President Thomas Saras mentioned about the upcoming Educational Seminar. He said a survey will be send out to members to a need analysis of the courses that members would like to take during the educational seminar.
- President Thomas Saras mentioned the NEPMCC will be participating at the CNE this year. There will be a reception during the opening ceremony of the NEPMCC booth at CNE.
- Motion: President Thomas Saras reminded the members of a previous resolution where it was approved to allocate funds to members who are working on the committees LJI and Educations Seminar. Ernesto Donan moved the motion supporting the above, seconded by Dimitri Papdopolous. The motion was unanimously carried.
- President Thomas Saras mentioned that NEPMCC will working towards creating a foundation for the members who need help during a crisis.
- President Thomas Saras encouraged everyone to apply for the student internship program and LJI.
- 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 planning.
- 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 authoring 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.
- 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 updated on the disbursement of funds under LJI.
She then took questions on the components of Special Measures for Journalism and Business Innovation Grant.
The CJC-CCJ is currently preparing its submission to the CRTC, taking into account feedback they have heard from stakeholders to date. It is understood that the stakeholders expect the CJC-CCJ to establish a governance structure that represents the full diversity of the news ecosystem and processes for fund distribution that are transparent, fair, and cost-effective, in accordance with the Online News Act and regulations. One can find more information in the link below
https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2024/2024-143.htm
Geroge Bakoyannis, Margaret Bonikowska, Dimitri Papadopolous, and others participated in discussions on the relevant issues raised during the meeting.
Adjournment: Dimitri Papadopoulos moved a motion to adjourn the meeting and Margaret Bonikowska 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, August 12 ,2024, via Zoom. (Meeting may be postponed due to the preparation of the CNE Ethnic Press Booth)
The above notes from the minutes of July 08, 2024, were prepared by Secretary General and Senior VP of the NEPMCC, Neel Nanda.