As members of the Punjabi and South Asian community, we the undersigned demand that Rogers Communications Inc. immediately restore the OMNI Punjabi News to the format presented prior to May 7, 2015. The decision to remove Punjabi News has had a negative impact on families who rely on the Punjabi News service every night. We value the Punjabi News that brought a professional, credible, and well received newscast every night to highlight issues relevant to our families. The Punjabi News is watched by all ages, and provides an invaluable and irreplaceable service that ensures important local, provincial, and federal issues are effectively understood by all generations in the Punjabi community. The Punjabi News has covered news stories that would not have been covered by the mainstream media thus increasing its importance to me. This type of news service is not readily available or effectively provided through online streaming services and pay per view channels based in India.

The decision to eliminate this newscast is based on a lack of knowledge of the South Asian community and the needs of the Punjabi News viewers. Rogers Executive Team, especially Ms. Colette Watson, lacks the basic understanding of the needs of the community and how South Asians of all ages value this news service. Ms. Watson has not engaged the community and/or its leaders on the value of the Punjabi News service. The decision was made without any consultation of the community and its devoted viewers who have wholeheartedly supported Omni TV and Rogers for many years. The reasons for eliminating Punjabi news are not well founded, and the proposed programming does not meet our needs. Therefore, we are demanding that this decision be reversed immediately.

If Rogers refuses to return the Punjabi News to its original format, we vow to oppose Rogers at the CRTC license renewal for OMNI in 2016, as well as encourage Punjabi businesses across Canada to pull advertising on OMNI, and most importantly, campaign to boycott all Rogers products and services, including Rogers TV, Wireless, Fido, and Chatr.