While last year the speaker at the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC) season celebration was Ont. Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, this year they were Federal Liberal interim Leader Bob Rae and Ont. Liberal Ministers Eric Hoskins, Kathleen Wynne, and Margarett R. Best. Also Jim Karigiannis M.P. gave a barnburner of an address.
The thunder of the evening was however stolen by NEPMCC President Tom Saras who gave the basic credo of ethnic press and persons. He spoke with gusto about the aspirations of "new Canadians", how they formed their media outlets, how they put their papers together in the evenings then distributed them and how hard it was to receive funding.
The next speaker was Bob Rae who said that many of his points were given by Tom Saras, but gave the Liberal credo that all people deserve an equal opportunity. With that he congratulated Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty for standing up to the Roman Catholic Church on issues that go against their own church beliefs. Rae still looks like the only game in town to be the Federal Liberal leader.
Ministers Hoskins and Wynne also spoke about their new and past ministries. Both look like possible candidates to replace McGuinty when he decides to step down.
