Rogers OMNI 10/BC Welcomes First Board of Multi-faith Community Advisors Enhanced Dialogue and Outreach Mechanism to Benefit All

    SURREY, BC, Jan. 30 /CNW/ - Terry Mahoney, General Manager of Rogers OMNI
Television British Columbia, is pleased to welcome the station's first board
of Multi-faith Community Advisors. Like the system of Community Advisors put
in place 20 years ago by multilingual/multicultural stations Rogers OMNI.1 and
OMNI.2, the new advisory board for Rogers OMNI.10/BC will play an essential
role in the station's feedback mechanisms. Collectively, OMNI.10's multi-faith
advisors reflect the various faith and cultural communities served by the
station's programming and will assist in maintaining two-way communications,
for the ultimate benefit of viewer and broadcaster alike.
    "Rogers OMNI.10/BC has grown rapidly in the relatively brief time we've
been on-air and the formation of our new board complements this growth," says
Terry Mahoney. "As we evolve, our Community Advisors will bring further
reflection to OMNI, its programming and its policies."
    "The process of identifying candidates for OMNI.10's board of Multi-faith
Community Advisors was launched, essentially, with the launch of the station
itself," he continues. "Top of mind for us were individuals with a good
understanding of the intricacies of their own faith as well as healthy respect
for, and appreciation of, the beliefs of people of differing religious
persuasion."
    To put a name to those individuals and briefly introduce OMNI.10's
inaugural board of Multi-faith Community Advisors, they are:-   Mason Loh Q.C., Chair, OMNI B.C. Advisory Board - a lawyer with a
        long and distinguished record of service to the community; volunteer
        with one of Vancouver's largest social service organizations,
        SUCCESS, for over 25 years, serving as their Chairman of the Board
        from 1994 to 1998;
    -   Canon Bernard "Bern" Barrett - Anglican priest; bible scholar and
        teacher; currently President and Executive Director of the Multi-
        Faith Action Society of B.C;
    -   Nusrat Hussain - founder and editor of the first Muslim newspaper of
        British Columbia, The Muslim Miracle News; award-winning poet; former
        General Secretary of the Canada Urdu Association;
    -   Ron Kuehl - Ron Kuehl is currently Senior Vice President of External
        Relations at Trinity Western University (TWU) and previously, its
        Vice President of Advancement and Enrolment; TWU is partner with
        OMNI.10 to explore the impact of religious diversity on cultures
        around the globe through a series of interfaith forums entitled,
        Faith Forward: Exploring Religion, Culture and Conflict;
    -   Jean LaRose - First Nations citizen from the Abenakis First Nation of
        Odanak; currently Chief Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Peoples
        Television Network (APTN); former Director of Communications for the
        Assembly of First Nations;
    -   Sukhvinder Vinning - Member, Multi-Faith Action Society of British
        Columbia, involved with inter-faith initiatives such as developing
        and maintaining dialogue among communities and managing peace and
        justice issues; also, coordinating producer for their multi-faith
        calendar;
    -   Mark Weintraub - Current Chair of the Canadian Jewish Congress,
        Pacific Region, and a partner of the Law firm Clark Wilson;
        internationally renowned keynote speaker at such auspicious events as
        the Tokyo Conference (on) War Crimes & Redress.Among the Multi-faith Community Advisors' many key functions is that of
maintaining two-way communications: providing OMNI.10/BC with information,
feedback and advice from their own particular community - and enhancing the
community's awareness of the station. All Rogers OMNI Television stations
value the input of their Community Advisors, all of whom take an active role
in their respective community.

    About OMNI TV BC:
    OMNI TV BC is the re-branded and renovated licence resulting from Rogers'
purchase of NOW TV (CHNU) and the subsequent approval by the CRTC Decision
Public Notice 2005-207
(http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/db2005-207.htm). This
decision also included the approval of a rebroadcast transmitter for Victoria
to be in place mid-2007 and operate on channel 21B. NOW TV Vancouver formally
re-launched as OMNI TV BC/OMNI.10 (over-the-air, UHF channel 66) on September
5th 2005, continuing its mandate to deal with the religious and spiritual
concerns of the Christian and other faith communities in its broadcast
coverage area.

    About Rogers OMNI Television:
    Rogers OMNI Television is a free over-the-air system consisting of four
regional broadcasters covering nine markets in British Columbia (Victoria,
Vancouver, and Fraser Valley), Manitoba (Winnipeg), and Ontario
(Ottawa-Gatineau, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Hamilton and the Greater Toronto
Area). All Rogers OMNI Television stations are owned and operated by Rogers
Communications in the Rogers Media division, and have the collective mandate
to reflect Canada's diversity through the airing of inclusive and accessible
programming. In addition to specializing in Canadian multicultural,
multilingual and multi-faith programming, OMNI TV also carries well-known
American and International series and films.