For immediate release:Rogers OMNI 10/BC Welcomes First Board of Multi-faith Community Advisors Enhanced Dialogue and Outreach Mechanism to Benefit All
SURREY (January 30, 2007) – 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 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.
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Media Contacts:
- Sandy Zwyer - Programme Information Coordinator - (416) 260-3590 sandy.zwyer@rci.rogers.com
- Andrea Gagliardi – Director of Public Relations – (416) 260-3803 andrea.gagliardi@rci.rogers.com
