Minutes of the Monthly Meeting held on June 10, 2024, at Committee Room No 2, City Hall, hybrid meeting via Zoom and in person.
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
- Presentation by Heritage Canada
- Presentation by Meetu Madahar, Communications Manager, United Way of Greater Toronto
- President’s Report/Discussions
- New Members/New Business
- Adjournment
Welcome Remarks by the Chair:
Mohammed Tajdolati chaired the hybrid meeting of June 10, 2024, and declared the meeting open. Manan Gupta moved a motion to approve the agenda. Pooyan Tabatabaei seconded it. The motion was carried unanimously.
Minutes of the previous meeting:
Arif Ahmed moved a motion to approve the minutes of the previous monthly meeting and Dimitri Papadopoulous 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 June 10, 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 thanked Maria Saras Voutsinas and members in the committee who worked towards the “Freedom of Press” Celebration at City Hall. The event was a huge success.
- President Thomas Saras welcomed a delegation of officers from Canadian Heritage to the monthly meeting of June 10, 2024.
- 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: 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 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.
- 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
Presentation by Heritage Canada PCH – Canada Periodical Fund
The Chair invited the delegation to make their presentation.
The delegation included
France Fortier, Director, Periodical Publishing Policy and Programs,
Karine Morin, Manager, Aid to Publishers, Canada Periodical Fund
Andrea Simms-Karp, Manager Collective Initiatives, LJI, CPF
Sridaya Srivastan, Policy Analyst Magazines Policy
Brigette Fontille, Program Officer, LJI
Cynthia D’Amours, Senior Program Officer, LJI, SMJ
Canada Periodical Fund (CPF):
Overview of CPF components
Special Measures for Journalism (SMJ):
The SMJ component provides funds to Canadian magazines and community newspapers. The SMJ component will provide funds for the 2024-2025 fiscal year to publishers that have a free circulation model or low levels of paid circulation, or are published in digital format. Funding is distributed proportionally according to the total of eligible editorial expenses of each recipient.
Aid to Publishers (ATP):
The Aid to Publishers component is designed to provide eligible Canadian publishers of print magazines, print community newspapers (non-daily) and digital periodicals with the financial support they need to produce and distribute high-quality, Canadian editorial content for Canadian readers.Funding is distributed proportionally according to the number of eligible copies distributed by each recipient; eligible editorial expenditures of each recipient for print magazines and community newspapers. For digital-only periodicals, funding is distributed proportionally according to eligible editorial expenditures.
Business Innovation (BI):
The Business Innovation component offers support for projects to eligible small and mid-sized print and digital magazines, and print and digital non-daily community newspapers. BI is designed to fund projects that have clear objectives and measurable results. Your application will be evaluated based on the criteria below. It will be compared and prioritized with other applications in relation to the funds available. Funding will be disbursed as a grant or as a contribution.
Collective Initiatives (CI):
The Collective Initiatives component funds projects for organizations designed to increase the overall sustainability of the Canadian magazine and community newspaper (non-daily) industries. CI is designed to fund projects that have clear objectives and measurable results. Your application will be evaluated based on the evaluation criteria below. It will be compared and prioritized with other applications in relation to the funds available.
Intake periods for current and upcoming funding cycles
SMJ 2024-2025
This component is currently receiving applications (opened May 31, 2024). The
deadline to apply is July 12, 2024. Following the deadline date, there is a 30-week
service standard to issue funding decisions.
BI 2024-2025
This component is currently receiving applications (opened June 10, 2024). The
deadline date to apply is July 12, 2024. Following the deadline date, there is a 20-
week service standard to issue funding decisions.
CI 2024-2025
This component is currently receiving applications (opened June 10, 2024). The
deadline date to apply is August 30, 2024. Following the deadline date, there is a
20-week service standard to issue funding decisions.
ATP 2025-2026
This component will launch the next funding cycle in October 2024 with a
deadline date to apply of end of November 2024. Following the deadline date,
there is a 30-week service standard to issue funding decisions.
Frequently recurring issues
Reproduced content
Content previously published on other platforms or in other publications.
The Program requires periodicals to contain at least 51% of original
content that has not been published elsewhere previously.
Unoriginal translated content
Translated content that was previously published on other platforms or in
other publications. Translation of previously published content does not
constitute original content. Translations of previously published content
may constitute up to a maximum of 49% of applicant’s submitted
content in an application.
Paid copies reported on forms
For subscription copies sold, a subscribers list may be requested to
confirm numbers reported on the form. For single-copy/newsstand sales,
points of sale reports showing each individual transactions may be
requested to confirm numbers reported on form.
Following the presentation, the chair Dr. Tajdolati opned the floor for questions and answers to members present in person and members attending all over Canada via Zoom.
Kathy Geskalis, Dimitri Papadopoulous, Manan Gupta, Hon Joe Volpe, Pooyan Tabatabaei, Margaret P. Bonikowska, Lisa, Manan Gupta, Shai l,Olga Kileev , Sean Pickard, Mareck Goldyn, Zuhair Alshaeer, Logan Logendranalingam, George Guzmas, Mila Garcia and others asked relevant questions to the delegation.
Presentation of plaques to the delegation fron from Heritage Canada
President Thomas Saras presented plaques to the delegation in appreciation of their time and guidance to the members of NEPMCC
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Toronto
New Business/New Members
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Adjournment: Shahidul Islam Mintu 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, July 08, 2024, via Zoom.
The above notes from the minutes of June 10, 2024, were prepared by Secretary General and Senior VP of the NEPMCC, Neel Nanda.
