ICCC Weekly Newsletter - 5 June 2021
Announcement
Tauseef Sheikh is the 33rd President of ICCC
Tauseef Sheikh
The elected members of the Board of Directors of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce unanimously nominated Tauseef Sheikh as the 33rd President of the Chamber at a meeting held Friday 4 June 2021.
Setting priorities for his tenure, Tauseef said, "Membership and Sponsorship are the two main focus areas for the Board. We have to understand that our Chamber is a community as well as a business institution that represents the aspirations and hope of the Indo-Canadian business community. My endeavour will be to make our membership more broad-based and work with new and existing sponsors to help them derive value for their sponsorship."
One of the senior-most Board members, Tauseef has been associated with the Chamber for more than a decade, and was instrumental in launching the India Chapter of the Chamber in 2018. He has been on the ICCC Board for the last four years, and has held and handled varied positions and portfolios including Vice President and Corporate Secretary; Vice President, Membership Engagement; Director, Sponsorship, New Immigrants & Mentorship.
He is a seasoned, top-performing banking professional with experience in Global Banking, Retail Banking and Wealth Management. Tauseef's journey in Canada began following an international secondment when he was sent to HSBC Bank in Canada from HSBC India as a part of the start-up team of the NRI (Non-Resident Indian) office in Canada. His association with the ICCC began immediately upon his arrival in Canada.
He was responsible for building a North American platform for providing onshore and offshore banking products with particular focus on cross- border Private Banking services. subsequently, in 2018, he was again sent to India on an international secondment to set up crossborder business for global Indians.
He is also the Ambassador for Diversity and Inclusion with HSBC in Canada. He believes in giving back to the community.
Vikas Sharma is ICCC's Vice President & Corporate Secretary
Vikas Sharma
Following Tauseef Sheikh's elevation to the President's position, the elected members of the Board appointed Vikas Sharma to the post of Vice President and Corporate Secretary. Vikas has been on the ICCC Board since 2020.
Since 2006, Vikas has been the President and Owner of a post-industrial plastics recycling company in Toronto, Canada. The firm specializes in trading a wide variety of secondary fiber, post-industrial plastics and raw material to build the efficiency and profitability of its customers recycling operations.
Vikas has significant experience in international trade and over the last two decades, Vikas has exported to China, India, Vietnam, Mexico and the USA. He specialises in India and North America trade.
Vikas is the President and Founder of the Care4Cause Foundation, which offers dignity, compassion and respect to individuals suffering poverty and unfortunate circumstances. Vikas joined the Tiger Jeet Singh Foundation in 2019 as Director and worked on expanding its Christmas Miracle on Main Street toy drive charity event to Brampton.
In the News - Canada
G7 deal on minimum corporate tax
Make tech giants pay fair share
Britain's treasury chief said the world's richest countries have signed a landmark global agreement to confront tax avoidance and make sure giant tech companies pay their fair share.
Rishi Sunak said finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized nations signed the agreement on the second and final day of meetings in London.
They said they have agreed to commit to a global minimum corporate tax of at least 15 per cent on a country by country basis.
"I'm delighted to say that G-7 finance ministers today, after years of discussions, have reached a historic agreement to reform the global tax system to make it fit for the global digital age and crucially to make sure that it's fair so that the right companies pay the right tax in the right places," Sunak said.
Read more: G7 Tax
EVERY CHILD MATTERS
The horrific discovery of the remains of 215 children, some as young as three years old, at a former residential school site in BC has shocked the world, and once again brought Canada upfront and close to its colonial and racist past. In 21st century it seems inconceivable that an institution that was meant to eradicate a culture could survive for over a century – from the late 1800s to 1996.
The history of the Residential Schools is a gory and macabre chapter in Canada’s history. Approximately 150,000 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children were separated from their families and forced to attend boarding schools, where at least one in every 50 of these students died, according to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The aim of this network of schools was to eliminate Indigenous language and culture and replace them with English and Christian beliefs respectively.
Although evidence of forced assimilation was found as early as the 17th century -- well before Confederation -- the practice became Canadian public policy by the late 1800s. In these residential schools, children were forbidden from practicing their culture, and were often subjected to physical and sexual abuse.
The issue is not just limited to missing children. Missing indigenous women is a growing concern, as well. The economic backwardness of the indigenous communities is a matter of deep concern. They are deprived of safe drinking water, face food insecurity, and lack access to basic healthcare, especially mental health, which is the main cause of high suicide rate among Canada’s indigenous people.
As immigrants, Indo-Canadians should educate themselves of the traumatic history and the contemporary condition of the indigenous people of Canada. They constitute approximately 5% of Canada’s population, and their numbers are rising rapidly.
Read more:
The Indian Act (link)
Indian Residential School System (link)
News Backgrounder (link)
High cost of food (link)
2020 Annual Report to Parliament (link)
Missing indigenous women (link)
An Appeal for India
As a Canadian organization, the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce adheres both in letter and in spirit to Canadian laws and values, and support and respect cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity of the Canadian society. In the spirit of non-partisanship and in accordance to Canadian values of multiculturalism, the ICCC provides a list of organizations that are at present working on raising resources for India to fight the resurgence of Covid-19.
The ICCC encourages its Members and stakeholders to contribute directly to any of these organisations.
Read more: Appeal for India: Updated List of Organizations
In the News: India
Seven Years of NDA Government in India
List of achievements
1: Ease of doing business
2: Ease of living
3. Eliminating corruption
4. Empowering youth
5. Health for all
6. Infrastructure for growth
7. Mobility for middleclass
8. Nari Shakti for New India
9. Prosperous farmers for Prosperous India
10. Putting India first
11. Renewed focus on Northeast
12. Social Empowerment
13. Taking development to the poorest
14. Transformative economic growth
15. India fights Covid-19
Read more: 7 years
Past Programs
Oxygen for India - 16 May
Watch the recording here
Oxygen for India - 30 May
Watch the recording here
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