QUEEN’S PARK—In a move, unanimously supported by all members of the legislature, TVO host of ‘The Agenda,’ Steve Paikin, a Kagawong summer resident and familiar sight at Old Mill Heritage Museum events, was honoured at Queens Park.
The Expositor caught up with Mr. Paikin as he was driving to Windsor with his 93-year-old father to catch a baseball game. The popular television host was taking advantage of some rare down time and, as it seems his wont, multitasking with an Expositor interview.
The accolades in the legislature, courtesy of a five-minute tribute called for by Conservative House Leader Steve Clark on a point of order.
“Steve Paikin has been a fixture in the homes of Ontarians,” began MPP Terence Kernaghan. “Since 1992, he’s been a trusted source for news, and while The Agenda is coming to an end, we are grateful that we will continue to hear from him on TVO, through his column and on his podcast. But it’s appropriate that after 19 seasons of The Agenda, we mark this occasion and thank Steve for his service to this legislature and to Ontarians.”
“While politicians have come and gone from this legislature, he has been a constant,” continued Mr. Kernaghan. “He has worked to ensure that people get the information that they need and hear the perspectives of people from across the political spectrum. When the business in this House has gotten tense, when we’ve dealt with complex and technical matters, and especially when the various parties have disagreed on basic facts, people have counted on Steve to make this place make sense. Steve, we need you to make this place make sense.”
“There are not a lot of programs in this province that provide deep dives into the important topics of the day,” said Mr. Kernaghan. “Steve has said before that no topic is too complex to be discussed on The Agenda, and taking on that challenge has undoubtedly helped to elevate the tone and better inform the political discourse within the province. While many places around the world, including in Canada, are becoming more polarized, Steve’s reporting certainly shares some of the credit for resisting that trend in our own communities.”
MPP Kernaghan continued to add that “Steve is more than just an exceptional journalist. He’s a community leader and an author, having written about Canadian historical figures, the nature of politics in Canada and public life—and even hockey.”
Liberal house leader John Fraser added his party’s tribute to Mr. Paikin. “Thanks, Steve,” he said. “You’re so much a part of this place, so much a part of the history, and not the history that people would always read about, talking about things that affect leaders, what their lives are like and the things that they sacrifice—the things that people sacrifice in here. It is really important. It is important to us that people see that and acknowledge it. Not everybody’s going to read that; I know that. But that side of politics: It’s really important to all of us. That’s why we’re all here; we’re here for the right reasons.”
MPP Fraser went on to reference Mr. Paikin’s literary accomplishments, including his profiles of former Ontario premier Bill Davis, “who I have a deep, deep respect for, the kind of sacrifices that he made,” John Robarts; Dalton McGuinty and John Turner, who, not in this place, was somebody who was really important to me throughout my career.”
“You did so much too—have done so much, I should say—just moderating debates, which I don’t think I could do, and you’ve done it in a way that has been really beneficial to our democracy,” continued MPP Fraser. “That’s a huge contribution.”
“On behalf of our party, I’d just like to thank you for your contributions,” MPP Fraser concluded. “I know you’re going to continue to contribute more. We really appreciate the genuine interest that you take in the people who work in this place, the people who put their name on a ballot, and in the human way that you’ve told their stories. I think that’s really important.”
Green Party leader Mike Schreiner also weighed in saying, “it’s a pretty special day when you have an opportunity to pay tribute to an extraordinary journalist, author and all-around great guy in Steve Paikin. I can tell you, for a political nerd like me, The Agenda is a staple in our house and has been for 19 years. I’m looking forward to continuing to see Steve on the #onpoli podcast.”
Education Minister the Honourable Paul Calandra added in “I appreciate the opportunity to say goodbye, I suppose, temporarily, to Steve Paikin. I would say this, Madam Speaker, when a renowned journalist on a state-run news channel is told that they’re going to retire, there is literally a Conservative stampede to the door of everybody that wants to wish them goodbye. I got there first.”
“It’s no secret that, when I was in Ottawa, of course, we rallied and talked—still did—about getting rid of the CBC,” he said. “Imagine my horror when I found out that, as Minister of Education, I run my own state broadcast.”
“You have done an amazing job,” he said. “We’re all very proud of all that you have accomplished in this place. And I say in a very real sense, you and I are alike in a lot of ways. We both love this place. We love the people who are in this place—some more than others, to be honest with you—and we are very jealous and guarded of not only this place, but what Parliament represents. You have been one of those people that helps us once in a while remember how important it is to be here. The personalities that have shaped not only this place but the province of Ontario—you’re the one who’s given voice to a lot of that very often in the books that you have written, that all of us have read and enjoyed. That, I think, more than anything for me, is your legacy, that you have been jealously guarded of how important it is to be in this place.”
Leader of the Official Opposition Marit Stiles finished off the tribute, “I want to thank him—Steve, before you leave and head downstairs, I just did want to lend my voice as well to saying thank you so much for your extraordinary contribution to our province, telling our stories, telling the stories of this place. I can’t wait to see what you do next, tomatoes or no tomatoes.”
While he has been at the helm of The Agenda for 19 years, Mr. Paikin has been employed at TVO for a whopping 33 years, and he shows little sign of actually slowing down. He will be continuing to host a political podcast, creating YouTube history vignettes just to name a few.
“I have 10 things on the go,” he laughed. “Retirement for me was never in the cards. Eventually, you have to leave the job. I love it.” Mr. Paikin said TVO was a “great place to work” and that it “gave me an opportunity to do the things I couldn’t do anywhere else.”
Still, hosting The Agenda, he noted, took up about 60 hours a week, leaving little time for other projects (remarkably he still managed to pull off several other projects).
“I always wanted to start a video podcast,” he said, and he is working on a non-political project, William “Bashin’ Bill” Barilko, a Canadian NHL hockey player who played his entire NHL career for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Over his five seasons, Mr. Barilko won the Stanley Cup four times in 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1951. Tragically, Mr. Barilko died in August 1951 in a floatplane crash during a fishing trip to Quebec. His number five jersey was retired by the Maple Leafs and was the subject of the 1993 single ‘Fifty Mission Cap’ by The Tragically Hip.
“I want to tell that story,” he said.
In the meantime, Mr. Paikin will be back on the Island this summer for some rest and recuperation, but given his track record, he will probably spend much of his time on his pet projects.
From all of us at The Expositor, congratulations Mr. Paikin, we will miss your contributions to the Canadian body politic and journalism at The Agenda, but look forward to your next adventures.
The last episode of The Agenda is scheduled to air June 27.
