Rural Canada is paying a heavier price for the Afghan mission than urban
Canada according to TVO's The Agenda with Steve Paikin

• New research is part of TVO's flagship current affairs program's five-part "Week of War" series, November 8 to 12 at 8 pm

TORONTO, Nov. 5 /CNW/ - Research by TVO's The Agenda with Steve Paikin reveals that relative to their populations, four times as many Canadian soldiers from rural Canada have been killed in Afghanistan than from urban Canada.

The findings were the result of an analysis of a new interactive map (http://bit.ly/TVOCDNSTUDY) showing detailed information on Canada's war dead. The map was created for the Agenda's special week of Remembrance programming Monday to Friday November 8 to 12, 2010 at 8 pm.

Using Department of National Defence and Statistics Canada data, analysis of the map reveals that of the 152 Canadian fatalities during 9 years of fighting in Afghanistan, exactly half were soldiers from what are classified as rural communities, which are only one fourth the size of Canada's urban population or approximately 20% of Canada's total population.

For example, three soldiers from the town of Truro, Nova Scotia (population 11,765) have been killed in Afghanistan, the same number as Hamilton (504,559), Ottawa (812,129), and Quebec City (491,142).

The analysis will be the topic of discussion on the November 11 program of the Agenda with Steve Paikin and the program's companion live chat at www.tvo.org/theagenda.

"We'll be looking at who is doing the fighting and dying in Afghanistan," says executive producer Dan Dunsky. "Where are our soldiers from? Is this another example of Canada's rural/urban divide?"

The week-long series will also draw on the sentencing of Robert Semrau for a discussion on morality and law during war, assess the state of the Canadian military, take a look at how technology is changing the way wars are fought, debate the effectiveness of democracies at fighting wars, and examine how the information age has changed people's view of and support for wars abroad.

Audiences can also go to www.tvo.org/theagenda for videos, maps, graphs, timelines of major events, and guest blogs featuring on-the-ground stories that will further put Canada's role in Afghanistan in perspective.

To go directly to the map of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan please visit http://bit.ly/TVOCDNMAP.

About TVO

TVO is Ontario's public educational media organization and a trusted source of interactive educational content that informs, inspires and stimulates curiosity and thought. TVO's vision is to empower people to be engaged citizens of Ontario through educational media. For more information, visit tvo.org.

Where to find TVO

Cable channel 2 (channel may vary in some areas), Bell TV channel 265, Star Choice channel 353.

For further information:

Media Contacts:
Paul Ginis   
TVO Communications
416.484.2600 x2445 
[email protected]