"Toronto East Goan Seniors Association - Taste of Goa 2005" Click for details.  By: Netto Noronha
Living it Up	Sounds Goan
Photos by Uvy Lopes Beauties & Beasts
Beauties & Beasts: Men from L to R :- Tony Fernandes, Antu Saldanha, Claude Gomes, Cajetan Gonsalves, Donald D'Mello. & Taumey (N-B). Ladies from L to R :- Philo Fernandes, Natty Viegas, (Sales Rep. TEGSA T-Shirts). Marfie Fernandes, & Flora D'Souza. T- Shirts are still available Sizes Small & Medium. Other sizes by order. All sizes @ $10.00 each. Please e-mail : unmlopes@sympatico.ca for details.
The Toronto East Goan Seniors Assn. celebrated their first cultural event ‘Taste of Goa’ on June 26th 2005 at Jean Vanier Catholic Secondary School. An event showcasing the customs, the arts and traditions of the Goan people. It was a huge success. In his welcoming speech, the President Claude Gomes said "it is a mission of our assn. to promote and share cultural, historic and artistic legacy of the seniors. It is my hope that in the coming years, events of this nature will flourish and strengthen our community spirit of togetherness". He thanked cultural secretary Olga Madeira and the executive committee for the hard work and dedication that an event of this magnitude requires. The day began with Holy Mass, the celebrant Rev. Fr Michael Brosnan from The Spiritan Mission. The choir, comprising of violin, guitar and keyboard gave the congregation beautiful renditions of Konkani hymns. We were then introduced to Cassandra Fernandes, a policy and community consultant for the City of Toronto. She brought greetings from the councillor Bas Balkissoon and other dignitaries. She enthralled the audience with her brilliant ideas on health and well being of seniors. She contributed helpful suggestions and guidance and supported the GOA, GCO and TEGSA. She was happy to see that seniors were given a lot of attention. She concluded by presenting an award to TEGSA from the City of Toronto. The talented musicians namely Bosco Fernandes, Lloyd Fernandes, Manuel Coutinho, Luis Pereira and Santan D’Mello willingly volunteered to offer their musical talents and put everyone in a festive mood with young and old dancing to their merry tunes. The Clara & Sherard Pereira family brought back memories of Our Beautiful Goa with songs like Goa, Goa, Goa and Parents are People. The professional dancers Sandra and Sabina presented two classical South Indian dances with grace and elegance. Young sisters Desiree and Whitney delighted the crowd with songs from Amchem Noxib and Goa Masala. Auggie Pereira & Martha Dias performed a light hearted duet that had the crowd roaring with laughter. Antonio Monteiro, Felix Remedios and Emano Moniz with the CLR mando group then got everyone joining in with the traditional songs of Goa. There was an overwhelming support and the hall filled to capacity with over 300 plus covering three generations. The food stations and the bar were very popular on this sweltering hot day and quickly reinforcements were required. Undoubtedly it was an event that was a hit with the Goan population and everyone went home talking about a bigger and better one for next year.

Looking for a Goan in the political arena ?
Changing the look of councils
Minority candidates need to get busy right now, says Andrew Cardozo
Toronto Star
Jun. 30, 2005. 01:00 AM
Prospective city council candidates are starting to think about the next election, so if visible-minority politicians want to change the complexion of city councils, they should plan on putting in a busy summer.

The presence of minorities on city councils in the GTA is minimal compared to the percentage of visible minorities in each of the cities. While more non-white candidates are running for office, a scarce few get elected.

Toronto has 44 council members, only five of whom are visible minorities; that's 11 per cent in a city whose population is about 50 per cent visible minority. Richmond Hill, which is about 40 per cent visible minority, has an all-white council.

This lack of diversity can't be blamed entirely on discrimination and negative attitudes. Candidates must prepare themselves more thoroughly and become better known in the wards they want to represent.

This is about the halfway mark between the last election and the next and most serious candidates for everything from mayor of Toronto to school board trustee in Mississauga should be getting ready to announce their candidacies by early 2006 for the election that will take place on Nov. 13 next year.

Major candidates for mayor usually declare their intentions around Jan. 1, and there is no reason for other candidates not to do likewise.

But well before running, serious candidates need to make preparations.

Perhaps the biggest stumbling block for visible-minority candidates who ran in the 2003 election was their lack of name recognition. Getting known and, more important, getting known to the extent that people will come out to work on your campaign, is crucial. An impressive curriculum vitae only establishes that you are a good candidate. You can be an environmental engineer, an experienced social worker or a respected school teacher, but profile is more important.

Local experience, be it in the local United Way, the chamber of commerce, the food bank or the teachers' union, is essential in building that profile. You need to spend time in the voluntary sector — both rolling up your sleeves and in leadership positions.

Doing these things within one ethnic community or religious group may give you some experience, but will not get you the kind of exposure across ethnic lines you need to get elected. And if your ethnic group is a substantial bloc in the ward, count on more than one candidate from that group running. Ethnic identity gets you only part way to success.

Find a cause you believe in and be a genuine volunteer. The good thing about the voluntary sector is that it acts like a screening process. Those who contribute in a genuine way gain potential supporters; those who join boards to pad a resumé usually just pick up a bad reputation.

Getting involved in federal or provincial parties is not a bad idea, either. The parties possess large networks of experienced election hands who can be persuaded to participate in yet another campaign. The downside is that you get labelled politically, something that can be a disadvantage in municipal and school-board politics, which avoid the party system. You have to weigh the pluses and minuses but always make sure that a municipal campaign is multi-partisan.

Getting involved in the federal election that will take place between now and next spring could be a good idea, if only to expand your networks and learn about electioneering — keeping in mind there are differences between federal and municipal campaigns.

Building a team of experienced election workers also is essential. Well-meaning and hard-working novices are no match for those who have done campaigns before. There are a million rules and tricks that the veterans can guide you through, not to mention the all-important fundraising.

The numbers for visible-minority representation at the provincial and federal level are not a lot better, but the solutions are easier as political parties can play a benevolent big brother kind of role to ensure diversity — if they so choose.

Municipal elections are more like the law of the jungle. Voter turnout is very low and incumbents have the best chance of getting elected because of their name recognition. With no parties to back them up, new candidates have to work hard to overcome the advantages of incumbency.

Andrew Cardozo is a public policy analyst with the Ottawa-based New Canada Institute.

Royal Bank forecasts slower but steady growth for Ontario
Upside growth potential emerges
TORONTO, July 5 /CNW/
Ontario's economy is expected to grow at a slower pace than the national average through 2006, with an expected growth rate of 2.3 per cent for 2005 and in the three per cent range for 2006, according to a new provincial forecast released today by RBC Financial Group.
"Ontario put in a decent showing last year by growing at a rate of 2.6 per cent and this year will see a similar, though slightly slower, rate of growth," said Craig Wright, vice-president and chief economist, RBC. "However, Ontario's growth will accelerate next year as the economy adjusts more fully to a more stable Canadian dollar."

According to the report, the recent depreciation in the Canadian dollar will enhance Ontario's export competitiveness going forward and when combined with greater federal and provincial fiscal stimulus, will power the Ontario economy to a faster rate of growth in 2006 compared to this year.

RBC notes that energy prices have been higher for a longer than anticipated period and this has acted as a drag upon Ontario's manufacturing and transportation sectors. However, increased program spending will spur Ontario's economic growth in the near term while upside surprises to revenue growth and conservative budget assumptions hold out the significant potential to achieve fiscal balance within a two year horizon.

New Executive of NACOI - Montreal - 2005-2006
From Felix D'Sa; Felix D'Sa
NACOI stands for "National Association of Canadians of Origins in India".
in French it is " ANCOI = l'Association Nationale des Canadiens d'Origine Indienne ".

At an Annual General Meeting held on June 26th, 2005, the following are declared as elected to the Executive of NACOI for the year 2005-2006.

Congratulations to the Team

Working in Canada For Those Planning to Immigrate
There is no guarantee that you will find work in your preferred occupation. You should know that, in order to work.

From Citizenship & Immigration Canada:http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/skilled/work-1.html
Before you immigrate, you should learn as much as possible about working in Canada. Your preparations should include updating your résumé and talking to friends, family, and potential employers about the job situation in the part of Canada in which you wish to settle.

Read this section to find answers to some of your questions about finding a job and working in Canada.