KAGAWONG—Steve Paikin, a veteran TVO journalist and seasonal resident of Kagawong, will be hosting the English-language federal leaders debate during the next federal government election campaign.
“It is a great honour to be chosen,” Mr. Paikin told The Expositor last Thursday. “It indicates those who run the debate, and all the party leaders feel that I can host the debate with neutrality and operate fairly.”
Mr. Paikin has hosted three federal government and five provincial English debates previously.
The Leaders’ Debates Commission (LDC) has selected CBC to produce, promote and distribute the English debate. Radio-Canada will do the same for the French-language debate, which will be moderated by Patrice Roy, one of that network’s main anchors.
“Steve Paikin, journalist and host of TVO’s flagship current affairs program, The Agenda with Steve Paikin, will moderate the English debate,” LDC said in a release. Mr. Paikin and Mr. Roy are, “Both experienced journalists and skilled moderators, with more than 30 years of live television experience, moderating panels, and hosting programs with many people on stage or set.”
Between them they have moderated 12 leaders’ debates. Mr. Paikin has moderated three federal leaders’ debates (2006, 2008, and 2011) and five Ontario provincial leaders’ debates (2007, 2011, 2014, 2018 and 2022. The debates producer was selected following a competitive and open bidding process, on a request for proposal.
“Each leaders’ debate will be widely distributed and streamed across the CBC’s and Radio-Canada’s television, digital and social media platforms, as well as on YouTube,” the commission said. The debates will be available and free for media organizations, networks, and platforms to distribute. The debates will also be available in Indigenous language and non-official languages, and accessible in ASL, LSQ, closed captioning and described video.
In its statement announcing the debates the commission wrote, “the debates will follow a simple format that encourages meaningful exchanges between the leaders, helps Canadians learn about their policy positions and party platforms and sheds light on the leaders’ character.” The debate will involve only the leaders, Mr. Paikin and Mr. Roy, with no other journalists or hosts on stage, said the commission.
The commission said it required CBC/Radio-Canada to pick moderators who “embodied the characteristics defined by the commission.” Those characteristics included, “experience moderating debates” and “substantial hours of live television experience running panels or programs with many people on stage or set.”
The commission also said it wanted someone with “gravitas and authority” who is “knowledgeable about the major issues of the election campaign.” It called for moderators capable of formulating and posing questions, “in a natural way that does not express an opinion or frame questions to the leaders in an opinionated or partisan way.”
