May 28, 1996 -- Leaders of 28 national ethnocultural communities elected the new executive committee of the Canadian Ethnocultural Council (CEC) on May 26, 1996 at the end of the organization's two-day Biennial General Assembly in Toronto.

The new president of the CEC is Emmanuel Dick, a high school principal and a Canadian of origins from Trinidad. Mr. Dick said that his "priorities will be to guide the CEC's involvement in the national-unity debate so that all Canadians will have a voice in shaping the future of their country and to forcefully reinforce within the government and general public the ideals of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act so that we can build a tolerant, just and understanding society."

He described himself to the CEC membership as "a team player and a consensus builder who will work towards pulling together all of the knowledge and skills of the membership in fulfilling the mission and mandate of the CEC."

The CEC's Executive Committee and their respective community organizations are:

Emmanuel Dick, President (National Council of Trinidad and Tobago Organizations in Canada),

Art Hagopian,Vice-President (Armenian National Federation of Canada),

Salvador Cabugao, Treasurer (National Council of Canadian Filipino Associations),

George Manios, Secretary (Hellenic Canadian Congress),

Shaheen Sayed, Youth Representative (Council of the Muslim Community of Canada),

Dmytro Cipywnyk, Immediate Past President (Ukrainian Canadian Congress) and five directors, Chung Won Cho (Federation of Korean-Canadian Associations),

Margaret Dvorsky (Slovak Canadian National Council),

James Kafieh (Canadian Arab Federation),

Meral Kesebi (Federation of Canadian Turkish Associations),

Fiona Lam (Chinese Canadian National Council).

The CEC is most noted for its role in the advancement of equality rights and its specific achievements in ensuring the inclusion of Section 27 (Multiculturalism) in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the adoption by the House of Commons of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act and the Employment Equity Act. -30-

Major coalition of national ethnocultural organizations

convenes May 25-26 in Toronto