Minutes of the Monthly Meeting held on January 19, 2026, 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
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 Yang
Elsayed Nasr
George Guzmas
MB Samimi
Susana Donan
Rupinder Rue Hayer-Bains
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
Sean Pickard
Jonathan Annobil
Margaret Bonikowska
Abi Kethees
Said Henry
(Names as per Zoom)
Mila Garcia
Goyum
Tausif
Zuhair Alshaaer
MB Samimi
Gonzalo Cooper
Thomas Saras
Ragee Arasaratnam
Mohammad Tajdolati
Ned Blair
Zuhair
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
Ramsankr Sivanathan
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 January 19, 2026, and declared the meeting open. Pooyan Tabatabaei
moved a motion to approve the agenda. Yuri Natchetoi 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 Demetris Vohaitis seconded it. Minutes of the previous monthly meeting were approved unanimously.
.
President’s Report/Discussions:
- President Thomas Saras welcomed everyone to the first meeting of 2026. He wished a wonderful year for all the members of the council and their families and staff.
- He mentioned that this is going to be a particularly important meeting as NEPMCC will raise pertinent issues affecting the ethnic media industry with the department of Canadian Heritage. A resolution was previously drafted after a meeting with the executive of the NEPMCC at the press gallery in the City Hall.
- Motion: A motion was brought in the floor in the November 2025 monthly meeting to discuss on the resolution. Many members during the November 2025 meeting including Logan Logandrinaligam, George Guzmas, Marco Leveytsky, Margaret Bonikowska, Eduardo Viera, Dimitri Papadopoυlos, Bill Fatsis, Magram Khalid, and others had spoken overwhelmingly in support of the motion. Ricky Castellvi had seconded the motion and was unanimously voted by the seventy-two members present during the previous monthly meeting in November. The copy of the final resolution was sent to all members via email after the meeting in November 2025.
- President Thomas Saras mentioned that NEPMCC has been trying hard to negotiate a better deal from Google on the compensation for the members of the ethnic media industry. President Thomas Saras will have a meeting with Google Canada on February 17, 2026. More information will follow later.
- President Thomas informed the members that Ming Pao is closing operations in Canada, and it is one of four member publications closing at the start of the year. President Thomas Saras expressed measured optimism that if the organization works together, then we as an organization can try to reverse the trend.
- President Thomas Saras mentioned that members receiving any emails coming from Radios Canada regarding the LJI, should forward it to the office of the President.
- President Thomas Saras mentioned that the freedom of the Press will be celebrated on the first week of May. Some members and community members will be receiving awards during the event. Nominations will begin in January 2026 end on February 28, 2026. Motion: The motion was moved by Pooyan Tabatabaei and seconded by Yuri Natchetoi. The motion to celebrate Press Freedom Week was unanimously approved.
- Motion: Every year NEPMCC participates at the CNE during August to September since more than thirty years. A motion was brought to the floor to continue this tradition. CNE participation was approved unanimously.
- President Thomas Saras reminded all the members to pay their membership fees for the year 2026. Members of NEPMCC receive numerous benefits and for NEPMCC to continue supporting its members, it is necessary for members to pay their membership fees on time.
- President Thomas Saras reached out to the office of the Prime Minister and members of various standing committees in Canadian Parliament.
- President Thomas Saras is preparing a report on the needs and challenges of the ethnic media industry which would be sent to the Federal Government.
- President Thomas Saras informed members that he is hoping that federal Government will improve Aid to Publishers Program and increase Federal Government Advertising.
- President Thomas Saras thanked Maria Voutsinas for her tireless work towards the betterment of the members of NEPMCC.
- 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.
- 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.
New Business/New Members
Maria Saras Voutsinas updated on the status of funds regards to LJI. Further information will be communicated about the cheques and electronic devices. More information will be available in next the meeting.
Adjournment: Pooyan Tabatabaei moved a motion to adjourn the meeting, and Demetris Vohaitis seconded it. The motion was carried. The Chair, Dr. Tajdolati adjourned the meeting at 7 PM. The next monthly meeting will take place on February 09, 2026, via Zoom. The above minutes of January 19,2025 were prepared by Secretary General and Senior VP of the NEPMCC, Neel Nanda.
