What's the future of northern Ontario? TVO's The Agenda with Steve Paikin
broadcasts from Timmins tonight at 8 pm

    
    -  Live broadcast from the Timmins High and Vocational School
    -  Free tickets for audience still available at tvo.org/agendacamp
    

TORONTO, March 22 /CNW/ - What does northern Ontario have going for it as we come out of the recession? And how much can northern Ontario do on its own? TVO's The Agenda with Steve Paikin is in Timmins tonight to broadcast the final of three programs in its 2010 On the Road tour looking at how the province is reinventing itself in the wake of the recession.

The live broadcast at 8 pm from the theatre of Timmins High and Vocational School follows a TVO-hosted, participant-led community forum called AgendaCamp held yesterday at the same school. In the forum, members of the public gathered with community leaders to brainstorm about issues affecting northern Ontario. The discussions held at AgendaCamp will determine the content of tonight's program. Some of the participants at the Timmins AgendaCamp included Tom Laughren, Mayor of Timmins, Mike Milinkovich, Mayor of Black River-Matheson, Les Louttit, Deputy Grand Chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Kevin Somer, Mayor of Smooth Rock Falls, and Roger Sigouin, Mayor of Hearst.

"We've been through eight of these AgendaCamps going back to last year and I'm always amazed at the quality of discussion that comes out of them," says anchor and senior editor Steve Paikin. "We had great representation from the leadership in the region - I think about four mayors from across northeastern Ontario along with several city councillors took part. But I've said this before, no one has a monopoly on good ideas and what you will see on the program tonight will be a product of everyone who participated at AgendaCamp."

Some of the guests for tonight's program include:

    
    -  Tom Laughren, Mayor of Timmins

    -  Jamie Lim, President of the Ontario Forestry Industry Association, and
       former mayor of Timmins

    -  Ben Lefebvre, CAW Local 599 representing workers at Xstrata Copper's
       Kidd Metallurgical Site in Timmins

    -  Peter Politis, Senior Consultant at For Evergreen Innovative
       Strategies Inc., and mayoral candidate for Cochrane, Ontario
    

Close to 50 participants at AgendaCamp held lively sessions on topics as wide ranging as how the Endangered Species Act will impact the region, what role agriculture has in the north, how relations with First Nations communities can be broadened, and how governance of the north can be restructured to more adequately represent residents. Participants and audiences across Ontario are encouraged to go to tvo.org/agendacamp to view all the session questions proposed and to contribute to the growing wiki with their own suggestions.

"TVO is part of the social fabric of Ontario," says TVO's Chief Executive Officer Lisa de Wilde. "And our On the Road events are all about building cohesive communities by enabling a province-wide conversation on what we need to become a global leader for the 21st century. It's a great example of what makes public television in Ontario so unique: our goal is to make a positive difference in people's lives."

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, Shaw Direct channel 353.

For further information: Media contacts: Angela Garde, TVO Communications, [phone] x 2305, [email protected]; Paul Ginis, TVO Communications, [phone] x 2445, [email protected]