Canadian Ethnic Media Association

Roberto Hausman couldn’t be more pleased with his show, Latin Life TV, whose slogan is “There is more to Latin Life than just Salsa.” The show, which last aired on Rogers, has successfully completed its seventh season and is getting ready for the eighth one starting September 2010. Roberto is the host and producer of Latin Life TV, some of whose content can be viewed on the show’s website.

Roberto Hausman and guest live it up at a Latin Life function

The show features entertainment, fashion, destinations, food, personalities, Latin music, events, business news and more. Roberto, who is a member of the Canadian Ethnic Media Association (CEMA), is promising us a lot of new Latin excitement for the 2010-2011 season. His show won the best Canadian Latin Show award for two years in a row.

Says Roberto: “We showcase the best of the Latin people and their culture. Do check us out!”

Latin Life TV aired last on Nuevo Mundo Television on Rogers Cable 642 at the following times:  Sunday at 4:30 p.m.; Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. and Wednesday at 12 noon.

To get a taste of Roberto’s excellent multicultural show, please CLICK HERE and enjoy…

A snapshot of free speech issues in Canada

An excerpt from the first ever report on the state of free expression in Canada, published today by the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression.  May3 is World Press Freedom Day. The full press release from CJFE, explaining the report and its importance, is published after the excerpt in this posting. (more…)

CEMA members quiz guest-speaker Ed Madronich, Chair of the Wine Council of Ontario (far right), on a wide range of topics, including: advertising to local multicultural audiences; Ontario wines versus European; why is icewine so expensive — and most importantly, when can CEMA members visit some vineyards for a wine-tasting experience.

In the picture below, from left Vasil (Bill) Yancoff, 2nd Vice-President of CEMA and producer of Macedonian Heritage Hour; Acting CEMA President, Dat Nguyen – Publisher and Editor, “Thoi Bao”; and Kiumars Rezvanifar, CEMA board member and Producer of  “Pasargad Today” and “Iran Zameen Today, at the Speaker Series event on March 4, 2010.

CEMA SPEAKER SERIES FOR MARCH 2010

CEMA threw a celebratory dinner for its Chair, Madeline Ziniak, National Vice-President at OMNI-TV, in honour of Madeline receiving an Order of Canada award, the highest civlian award in this country.  She was singled out for her contribution to multilingual television and her support for the ethnic media. Here are some photos in a slideshow from the dinner held on July 23, 2009, at the Pearl Restaurant in Toronto’s Harbourfront district. Place your cursor on any  image to stop the slideshow and view an individual picture. Use the + or – sign in the bottom left corner to speed up or slow down the slideshow. Photographers were Roy Virtue and Lisa Warner,  among others.

A press release issued by OMNI-TV after the announement of the Order of Canada list  July 1, 2009

TORONTO (July 2, 2009) —– OMNI Television is pleased to announce that Madeline Ziniak, National Vice President of OMNI Television, is among 60 new appointments to  the Order of Canada,  our country’s highest civilian honour for lifetime achievement.

CEMA Chair Madeline Ziniak

The official announcement was made yesterday by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada; recipients will be invited to accept their insignia at a ceremony to be held at a later date.

As Member of the Order of Canada (C.M.) – a designation which recognizes a lifetime of distinguished service in or to a particular community, group or field of activity — Madeline was cited for “her contributions as the major driving force behind the development and growth of multilingual and multicultural television in Canada.”

Madeline has received numerous community, government and industry honours for her dedication throughout her career.  In 2001, she was named to The Order of Ontario, in recognition of her commitment to multiculturalism and its expression through TV. (more…)

Copy of a press release from the Canadian Ethnic Media Association distributed by Canada News Wire (CNW)

TORONTO,June 25 — The 31st annual Canadian Ethnic Media Association (CEMA) Awards were presented at a gala in Toronto,  Friday, June 26.

Winners range from Stephen Hui for  an aricle in Georgia Straight on the plight of the In-Shuck-chs on a reserve near Vancouver to a documentary by Lalita Krishna on a Toronto photographer’s work with at-risk youth of the Peruvian rain forest.

Eight CEMA Awards were presented.  In  addition, the Sierhey Khmara Ziniak Award, named for CEMA’s founder,went to  the person who through journalism has spoken for Canadian  multiculturalism. (more…)

U.S. Consul General in Toronto, John R.  Nay, told CEMA members on June 4 that his three-year stay in Ontario has been among the most pleasurable of his tours of duty. He will be taking another posting after the beginning of July but was not able at the moment to disclose his successor’s name.

U.S. Consul General in Toronto John Nay addressed CEMA's Speaker Series on June 4.

He told a packed meeting: “On this particular day I am extremely proud to be a U.S. citizen after listening to President [Barack] Obama’s speech in Cairo. It might potentially be the start of a new peace initiative by Muslim nations and  Israel.” Copies of that speech were made available to those attending the meeting .

The Deputy Secretary of State had just completed a visit to Canada, and Nay, referring to this visit, said it pointed to the importance President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton were attaching to U.S.-Canada relations. (more…)

Valery Tokmakov, valued member of CEMA died in Moscow earlier this year; his loss will be missed and regretted by many of us who knew him through his participation in our events, taping materials for his television progam Russian Waves (OMNI-Tv), which in 1999, won a CEMA award. He came to Canada in 1991 and quickly established himself as a producer of Russian language programming.

Valery was taken ill during a trip to Moscow, where he died after a lengthy hospitalization.

Fewer of us knew of his many talents, which besides television production included expertise in animated film both as producer and a teacher at Seneca College for the past five years.

Many of his programs have also been seen on television in Russia, and in 2006 the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia honoured him with a diploma praising his efforts on behalf of Russian Culture and the Russian Orthodox religion abroad.

He is survived by his wife Natalia Nikitina and daugher Ana who are continuing to produce Russian Waves.

The Save Our Voice campaign that sought to overturn an Ontario tax law that would unfairly penalize the ethnic print media has been successful.

Ontario has agreed to amend the tax legislation, and the law firm helping several ethnic print organizations to fight the law, says on the surface it appears to meet with the Coaltiion’s objectives. The coalition also included CEMA. Fasken Martineu DuMoulin LLP, the law firm, will, however, also prepare an analysis for the Save Our Voice Campaign.

Meanwhile, we print below the redrafted legislation by Ontario’s Ministry of Finance. The government is hoping to receiveing feedback by January 25, 2008, before enacting this legislation. For previous stories on this subject, CLICK HERE.

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