E-Arabica Newsletter

NCCAR membership established a new board for 2008-2009 re-electing Bahija Réghaï as President. The new board is composed of high calibre, committed members from a diverse professional background.  The Executive Committee consists of the following:

• Mr. Samer Roumani – Vice-President (Fundraising and Outreach)
• Mark Khoury – Vice-President (Media and Government Relations)
• Doug Daniels – Treasurer
• Rula Odeh – Secretary
• Mark Khoury, NCCAR Vice-President (Media and Government Relations) attended two Liberal Party functions on June 12 th and June 18 th .  The events featured Stéphane Dion as the keynote speaker, as well as MPs and Senators from the Greater Montreal area.

 

• NCCAR attended and supported a presentation that Diana Ralph gave on behalf of the Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians (ACJC) on June 12 th .  Ms. Ralph explained at the meeting of the Middle East Discussion Group the background, achievements and the work still to be done by the ACJC as it builds “Canadian Jewish Opposition to Occupation”.  

• NCCAR President, Bahija Réghaï, attended a forum on “Diversity and the Media” in Ottawa on June 19 th organized by MOST.  Editors and journalists from CTV, CBC, the Ottawa Citizen, a representative from CRTC as well as Professor Karim Karim from the School of Journalism at Carleton University were also in attendance.  The forum guests shared their ideas on how the media can best reflect and respond to the cultural and linguistic realities of Canadians.  

• NCCAR held a board retreat on June 21 st -22 nd to update the organization's mission, values, vision and to develop exciting, ambitious plans for the upcoming year.  For more information contact NCCAR President, Bahija Réghaï, or Secretary, Rula Odeh.  

• NCCAR sent a letter to Prime Minister Harper demanding clarification of the government's position regarding comments made by Minister Vic Toews.  Toews' comment stated that Madame Justice Arbour was “a disgrace to Canada .”  This comment was in contradiction to an earlier statement made on behalf of the government by former Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier who acknowledged that Arbour's “appointment reflected the proud tradition of Canadian support for the United Nations and its work.”  NCCAR requests that if the “disgrace” comments do not represent the current views of the government, Minister Toews should be asked to issue an apology or to resign.  

• Following the announcement that she will not run in the next election, NCCAR sent a letter to Ms. Alexa McDonough to express their appreciation of her support for Canada 's Arab and Muslim communities, and NCCAR.  This year again, a NCCAR Parliamentary intern was placed in her office.  Ms. McDonough may be retiring from federal politics, but we are sure she will continue working for the good of our country as she has always done, and that she will remain a friend of NCCAR and its constituencies.    

Contacting your Member of Parliament (MP) is an effective way to take action and to be heard.  If you have any trouble finding your MP or need help, use the following link requiring only your postal code: http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC