The Annual General Meeting of the Josephian-Peterite Alumni Association of Canada was held on Friday, March 22, 2013, in the Beaufort Room, Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Markham. The meeting was well attended adding to a warm feeling of strength and unity among the large coterie of Old Joes & Old Peterites living in and around Toronto, the main commercial hub of Canada. A feature of the evening was the participation of a total of eleven of the seventeen Past Presidents of the 29-year old JPAA Canada. The crowd consisted of a blend of old and young members who assembled to usher in a new slate of officers to carry on the day to day activities of this great organization. Members registered at the front desk and paid their 2013 membership fees before entering the meeting room. The annual membership remains $15 per annum.
The following past presidents were present at the AGM: Upali Obeyesekere, Nihal Jayawardene, Chris Cooke, Milan Goonewardena, Ranier De Lambert, Rod Diaz, Roshan Navaratnam, Jeevan Pragasam, Rehan Goonetilleke, Valentine Balasingham, Christy Joseph.
Outgoing President, JPAA Canada Christy Joseph (SJC) presented his Annual Report of activities for year-ending 2012/2013. Treasurer Roger Payoe tabled the accounts for the fiscal year that ends on March 31.
A large crowd of old boys attended the meeting and suggested many new initiatives. A new committee was elected by unanimous vote and the president was given a two-year mandate, with the option of extending the term to three years. Co-founder of JPAA Canada and its inaugural president Upali Obeyesekere was ushered in back again as the new president of JPAA Canada with a strong committee. The association has big plans to celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2014 and will be in touch with the parent unions in Colombo in preparation for this event.
In his acceptance speech, incoming president Upali Obeyesekere thanked the members for the confidence placed in him and his team – “Team JPAA 2013”.
Following is an extract from his acceptance speech:
“After a break of 20-years, I have come back to lead this great organization. In all humility, I am honoured. We have remained united for twenty-nine long years as one entity and let me say we are truly blessed. Let us carry on our mission at hand in a decisive and sincere manner and always bear in mind that we received our education at two of the best Roman Catholic Educational Institutions in Sri Lanka. We must put our Alma Mater first, and respect its values. We must at all times conduct ourselves with dignity, as this is what is expected of us.
My message is for the Joe-Pete fraternity in Canada to embrace JPAA Canada as “your association“ and work towards a common objective. Our mission is to invite all Josephians and Peterites in Canada to our fold and make it one happy family. God`s blessings will be ours! JPAA Canada is a member-driven not-for-profit entity. It is obligatory for us to act with dignity and decorum in all matters related to our Alma Mater. It is a matter of pride and we should not overlook this fact. After all, we were the first (in 1984) among Sri Lankan schools` to form an Alumni Association in Canada. We are also the only combined Josephian-Peterite Alumni Association in the world. Through our humility and hard work we have achieved a lot but there is more to be done. Please help us to help you!”
Please download the link for AGM Photo Gallery
THE FOLLOWING WERE ELECTED TO OFFICE AT THE 2013 AGM
President Upali Obeyesekere
Vice President (SJC) Rajive Benedict
Vice President (SPC) Srinath Wijeyeratne
Social Secretary Anslem Perera
Membership Secretary Roger Payoe
Hony. Treasurer Peter Ragell
Member-at-Large Savio Alexander
Member-at-Large Jerome Fernandez
Special Advisor to the Board Roshan Navaratnam
Immediate Past President Christy Joseph
Advisory Panel Rehan Goonetilleke, Rod Diaz, Ranier de Lambert & Jeevan Pragasam
Hony. Auditor Chris Serpanchy
Chris Serpanchy was elected Hony. Auditor, JPAA Canada by unanimous acclamation.
Upali Obeyesekere stepped down as Chairman, Senate Committee since he is now President, JPAA Canada. He conducted a mini-meeting with the group of Past-Presidents (11) and moved a motion to appoint Milan Gunawardana to succeed him as Chairman, Senate Committee, JPAA Canada. Roshan Navaratnam seconded the motion. The motion was carried unanimously. Milan accepted the appointment and said he will do all within his powers to assist JPAA Canada.
JPAA Canada works very closely with the Alma Mater – specially with Rev. Fr. Travis Gabriel – Rector, St. Peter`s College and Rev. Fr. Sylvester Ranasinghe – Rector, St. Joseph`s College and with the parent Old Boys’ Unions of both schools in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is vital to continue this practice as effective communications is a necessary tool today in the non-profit sector.
TEAM PROFILE
Upali Obeyesekere – has a proven track record as an able leader and a strong administrator. He is currently President, Canada-Sri Lanka Business Council in addition to the new role with JPAA Canada. He brings to the table over two decades of experience dealing with and managing Not-For-Profit Corporations. Upali believes in getting the job done sans confusion, conflict and complications. His only objective is to maintain peace and decorum – thereby keeping the Joe-Pete community together in Canada. At the end of the day, a family that prays together – stays together!
In Rajive Benedict we have probably the most celebrated cricketer from both schools in our midst – who will function as Vice President-SJC. In addition, Rajive is an asset in many other areas within the Non-Profit sector which governs our articles of incorporation. Srinath Wijeyeratne, Vice President-SPC is also a strong administrator, a good sportsman and one of the best sports coordinators in the business. Both Rajive and Srinath will provide advocacy and be responsible for two of our most prized sports events in addition to Rugby.
- 29th “Battle of the Saints” and
- 4th Saints Quadrangular
Our dynamic Social Secretary is Anslem Perera, a work horse. His flair for perfection and professionalism will compliment all social activities presented by JPAA Canada. Anslem will organize a Membership Nite on Friday, May 31s. The Annual JPAA Dinner Dance will be held on Saturday, October 5th.
A friendly addition to the committee will be Peter Ragell, as Hony. Treasurer. Peter has shown remarkable strength in managing numbers and it will be a pleasure to have him in the team. Our target this year is to increase membership by 100%. Annual fees remain $15 and let me urge all to help your association by renewing your membership, sooner than later.
We also have another dynamic duo in Jerome Fernandez and Savio Alexander, a Josephian-Peterite combination. Both Jerome and Savio have served in the JPAA Committee before and will be a strong addition to the team. Jerome and Savio are multi-talented and we will use their skills for `Special Events`, Social and Administrative projects associated with the operational year.
The Advisory Panel comprise of four past-presidents Jeevan Pragasam, Rehan Goonetilleke, Ranier De Lambert and Rod Diaz who will stick handle “Special Projects“ and assist the two VPs and President to formulate guidelines for Code of Conduct + Conflict of Interest policy. We will also look at streamlining the By-laws and Constitution of JPAA Canada to conform to present day standards. (JPAA Canada by-laws & Constitution were enacted in 1993, over decades back. These controls are needed to better structure JPAA as we move forward with renewed direction. Jeevan, Rehan, Ranier and Rod are a formidable foursome and a president`s dream to have in the committee. Together we will come up with a succession plan for the next 10-years.
Rounding up the Committee is Roshan Navaratnam, another dedicated past-president of JPAA. Roshan will play the lead role as Chair, Saints Quadrangular Committee in addition to his role as Special Advisor to the Board. He brings to the table many strengths and communication skills and will liaise with the three presidents of St. Anthony’s College, Kandy; St. Benedict’s College and JPAA Canada to work out the logistics for the popular “Saints Quad” Tournament this year. Rajive Benedict will be Vice Chair, Saints Quad Committee. Srinath Wijeyeratne was appointed Tournament Secretary, Saints Quad Committee. Date for the Saints Quad tournament was announced as August 11th (Sunday).
The Josephian-Peterite Alumni Association – Canada (JPAA Canada) was formed in 1984, and based in Toronto where a majority of old boys from both schools reside. In 1984, the number of Old Joes and Old Peterites living in Toronto would have numbered less than 100 and this prompted the need to form a joint association to strengthen the purpose of building one organization for the Joe-Pete community. In the nineties, it was felt that a change was necessary in keeping with the influx of Sri Lankans to Canada. Democracy prevailed and a Special General Meeting was summoned in the mid-nineties to review the options and arrived at a uniformed decision whether to continue as a joint association or split into two individual groups – one for the Josephians and one for the Peterites. A referendum was conducted where the alumni were presented with the two options. In the final analysis, the vote produced an overwhelming consensus to continue as a "Joint Association" and the rest is history.
