| Tuesday, 15 May 2007 | |
The World Lebanese Cultural Union’s Geographical Region of the United States and Canada (WLCU – US & Canada) convened on the 27th and 28th of April 2007 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, hosted by the newly founded WLCU Quebec Provincial Council. The meeting was led by the World President, Anise Garabet (Los Angeles) and attended by the Regional President George Murr (Victoria), the Deputy Secretary General Nicholas Kahwaji (Vancouver), Regional Secretary General for North America, Ibrahim Dagher (Boston), Presidents of various chapters from across the region and dozens of delegates. The Conference was preceded on Thursday evening, April 26th by a buffet reception hosted by the WLCU Quebec Regional Council at Cathédrale Saint Maroun in Montreal in honor of Bishop Joseph Khoury. WLCU World President Anise Garabet presented Bishop Khoury with the WLCU Golden Emigrante Award in appreciation for his work on behalf of the Lebanese-Canadian communities and for promoting dialogue among the Lebanese in Lebanon and in Canada.
The meeting took place at the Best Western Ville Marie Hotel in downtown Montreal beginning on the morning of Friday, April 27th. A moment of silence was first observed in memory of WLCU’s Brian Bacache and the two Lebanese students, innocent victims of the Virginia Tech shooting, Rima Samaha and Ross Alameddine. The delegates then sang the Canadian, American, and Lebanese national anthems.
After President Murr opened the meeting, the delegates introduced themselves by position and chapter affiliation. Roland Dick, President of the host chapter followed by welcoming the delegates to Montreal, and the Regional Secretary General Ibrahim Dagher added his words of welcome, read a letter of support from Father Marwan Tabet, the Secretary General of Catholic Schools in Lebanon, and presented the conference agenda.
President Garabet and Dr. Kahwaji presented a detailed briefing on the WLCU’s background, history, constitution and by-laws. This was followed by a general discussion of the upcoming WLCU World Congress in Sao Paulo, Brazil that concluded with authorizing Dr. Kahwaji and Mr. Dagher to prepare the region’s proposals to be presented at the Congress.
Deputy Secretary General Kahwaji presided over the afternoon session as the delegates split into smaller working groups to discuss.
The Regional Secretary General, Ibrahim Dagher, chaired the third session on Saturday morning, April 28th which opened with the financial report from the Regional Treasurer, Soly Asmar, followed by a report on planned youth activities presented by the Quebec Provincial Council’s Youth Coordinator Patrick Cortbaoui. The Regional Secretary General reported on the recent activities of the region starting with a special recognition of the President of the WLCU on the Hudson chapter, Mara Hanna, who is currently serving in a dangerous diplomatic mission in the Middle East, wishing her safety and success. The report focused on the formation of new chapters in Las Vegas, Washington, DC, and the New York / New Jersey area in the United States, as well as in Toronto, Ottawa, Gatineau, and Montreal in Canada. The Secretary General reported that more chapters are on the way and will come to life once this group has been absorbed and the regional meeting and world congress have concluded. He also emphasized that merely forming chapters is not the objective but rather the actual work on the ground, whether cultural, charitable, or on behalf of Lebanon. He also named as a main objective connecting the chapters into a truly regional network that would increase the opportunities for all to learn from each other and to engage in larger scale, more effective, regional projects.
The represented chapters from throughout the region reported on their local activities under the theme “Think Globally, Act Locally” in a general format that included an introduction of each chapter, its officers, the local Lebanese community, chapter activities, future plans, challenges, and suggestions. The reporting proceeded in this order:
The conference then received Mr. Walid Maalouf, Director of Public Diplomacy for Middle Eastern Affairs at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). In his address before the conference, Mr. Maalouf thanked President Garabet and his world and regional teams for their wise leadership of the WLCU and the productive relationship between the US Administration and the WLCU. He also emphasized the importance of the WLCU as a unifier of the Lebanese Diaspora and defender of Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty.
The last item of business was the election of a new Executive Board of the Regional Council. The Regional Secretary General explained the election’s rules and procedures, identifying the electoral body (consisting of the members of the Regional Council’s Board of Directors), and the number of votes each member, or their authorized representative, can cast.
The list of positions on the executive board was then read along with the names of nominees for each position. Nominations were either submitted earlier or presented from the floor at the meeting. As the process began, many nominees to the various positions withdrew their names in favor of other colleagues and, in the end, a new Executive Board was elected unanimously by raise of hands, as follows:
The Board of Directors that, along with the Executive Board, make up the Regional Council, has as members the presidents of the state and provincial councils and the presidents of chapters where state and provincial councils don’t exist. The composition of the current Board of Directors is as follows:
The Regional Council, consisting of the two boards listed above, will appoint consultants and advisors as needed, including “Legal Advisors”, “Advisor on Lebanese Affairs”, “Coordinator of Internal Communications and the Website.”
Interview with Canada International
The World President of the WLCU, Anise Garabet, and the Regional Secretary General for North America, Ibrahim Dagher, were interviewed by Radio Canada International as they participated in the WLCU Regional Meeting in Montreal. The interview was heard live throughout the Middle East via RCI, Voice of Lebanon in Beirut, and Radio Middle East in Canada.
To listen to the interview, please follow these steps:
1. Access RCI at this link http://www.rcinet.ca/rci/ar/
2. Click the triangular “Play” sign on the right hand side of the screen
3. Scroll down and click on the “Sans Limit” broadcast of 4/27/2007
4. The interview runs roughly from minute 10 of the program through minute 22. Photos: WLCU NORTH AMERICA Congress in Montreal on April 28th 07 St Maroun Reception on April 29th 07 Download PDF: http://www.wlcu.com/wlcu%20fundraiser.pdf
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