Steve Paikin

Early Life and Family

Steve Paikin was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario. His mother, Marnie Paikin, was a lifelong volunteer and worked for a variety of public and parapublic organizations, including the Ontario Human Rights Commission. She was chair of the Ontario Council on Universities from 1983 to 1987 and served as acting chair of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. In 1988–89 and again in 1992–93. She was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1998 for her contributions to education and health policy. She died in 2023. Steve’s father, Larry Paikin, owned Ennis-Paikin Steel of Hamilton. Paikin’s parents were also well-known philanthropists.

Education

Steve Paikin graduated from Hillfield Strathallan College in 1978. He then attended the University of Toronto, where he earned a BA from Victoria College in 1981. He then earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University. During his time at the University of Toronto, Paikin was the sports editor of the school newspaper and provided play-by-play commentary for the school’s hockey and football teams.

Career Highlights

Steve Paikin began his journalism career as a summer intern at the Hamilton Spectator from 1980 to 1982. Over the course of his career, he has frequently contributed to the Spectator as a columnist. While working at the Spectator, Paikin took on a wide variety of roles: writing obituaries, covering Hamilton City Hall, reporting on accidents and emergencies, among many others. He has said that he didn’t really pay attention to the front pages of newspapers until he began working for one (though he was a fan of sports reporting since his youth). Despite interning for the paper for three consecutive summers, Paikin was never offered a full-time job there. This prompted him to move to Toronto and try his hand at broadcast news.

Upon moving to Toronto, Paikin worked at radio station CHFI as a city hall reporter from 1982 to 1985. He then worked for CBC Toronto as an anchor and Queen’s Park correspondent for the next seven years. In 1992, he made the move to TVOntario (as TVO was then known), starting a new phase in his career, in which he anchored news and current affairs programming. This began with a two-year stint hosting the political series Between the Lines. He then created a newsmagazine focused on provincial politics called Fourth Reading, which he hosted for 14 years. He also hosted the foreign affairs program Diplomatic Immunity (1998–2006). Paikin co-hosted the TVO news program Studio 2 from 1994 to 2006, at which point he began hosting The Agenda with Steve Paikin. In addition to his daily responsibilities as host of The Agenda, Paikin also co-hosts a weekly Ontario politics podcast produced by TVO.

The Agenda with Steve Paikin is recognized as a unique television current affairs program, in that it often dives deeply into the subject matter it covers, sometimes committing the entire broadcast to a single subject. Paikin has stated that no subject pertinent to the public is too complex to be discussed on The Agenda.

Other Activities

Steve Paikin has produced several documentaries, including Return to the Warsaw Ghetto (1993). It won the Silver Screen Award at the US International Film and Video Festival. He has also moderated numerous leaders’ debates. He has moderated five Ontario leaders’ debates, as well as federal leadership debates in 2006, 2008 and 2011. In 2024, he was chosen to be the moderator of the next federal leaders’ debate, in 2025.

Paikin’s family is politically well-connected. His various family members have campaigned or otherwise been involved with numerous political parties at the federal, provincial and municipal levels. He has discussed the challenges involved in navigating personal and professional relationships while maintaining objectivity as a journalist.

Honours and Awards

In 2012, Steve Paikin received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2013, he was recognized, like his parents, for his contributions to the City of Hamilton by being elected to the Hamilton Gallery of Distinction. In 2014, Paikin was appointed a distinguished visiting professor at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University). He also served as chancellor of Laurentian University from 2013 to 2021.

Steve Paikin was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2013. He was recognized for his contributions to Canadian journalism, as well as for his important contributions to public discourse in Canada. He was made a Member of the Order of Ontario in 2014.

Paikin holds honorary doctorates from the University of Toronto’s Victoria University, McMaster University, Laurentian University and York University. He has also received honorary diplomas from Mohawk College, Humber College (now Humber Polytechnic), Centennial College and Fanshawe College.

Writings

• The Life: The Seductive Call of Politics (2001)
• The Dark Side: The Personal Price of a Political Life (2003)
• Public Triumph, Private Tragedy: The Double Life of John P. Robarts (2005)
• The New Game: How Hockey Saved Itself (2007)
• Paikin and the Premiers: Personal Reflections on a Half Century of Ontario Leaders (2013)
• Bill Davis: Nation Builder, and Not So Bland After All (2016)
• John Turner: An Intimate Biography of Canada's 17th Prime Minister (2022).