STATEMENT BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE NATIONAL ETHNIC PRESS AND MEDIA COUNCIL OF CANADA REGARDING THE WORLD’S CONFLICTS

The National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC) is an organization whose members are journalists and publishers of newspapers in over 75 languages as well as producers of TV and radio programs informing and serving non-Anglo or Francophone communities across Canada, with their roots all over the globe. We are working together, sharing ideas and respect each other’s opinion and culture, finding our diversity to be our most valuable asset.
We, the members of the NEMPCC, are deeply concerned about today’s wars and conflicts in the world, most recently in Israel and Gaza, as well as in Ukraine and every other part of the world. It concerns and pains us to see the loss of life and the human tragedies they cause. We are also devastated to hear about dozens of our fellow journalists who have lost their lives while performing their professional mission of reporting and informing the international public on these tragic events.
However, as citizens of our unique country Canada – the multicultural and multiethnic mosaic, we are also deeply concerned about the incidents of violence where our fellow Canadians of differing ethnic origins turn against each other just because of their respective cultural backgrounds.
For all the above reasons, we appeal to all fellow Canadians to remember that this country is a safe haven for victims of numerous world conflicts and that we work together and build this unique society where people from over 200 ethnic cultural backgrounds, live in peace, dignity and respect for each other and for our diversity, despite our differences. Therefore, let us not destroy this peace and harmony and continue to respect our Canadian values. Let us concentrate on helping those in need wherever in the world they are and not let ourselves succumb to any form of violence or aggression towards each other.
We appeal to our fellow Canadians to keep in mind that we should not let wars and conflicts elsewhere damage our social fabric here in Canada, where we are all sisters and brothers living by the values we pledged to respect when we took the oath of citizenship to become Canadians and Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.