TVO’s ‘The Agenda’ to highlight Lindsay’s basic income pilot

TVO’s flagship show, The Agenda, with host Steve Paikin, will roll into Lindsay on Tuesday to film a special episode built around the town’s basic income pilot.

The production crew was in town last week, filming snippets with people in various locations around town.

Mike Perry was chair last year of the Kawartha Lakes Food Coalition. He and his team are largely credited with convincing the Province to bring one of three basic income pilots to Lindsay.

In fact, Lindsay ended up as the most crucial of the three pilots, with about 2,000 people expected to participate, or about 10 per cent of the population. Thunder Bay and Hamilton, the other two centres involved, have about 1,000 participants each.

“This is a real bonus for Lindsay and Kawartha Lakes,” says Perry, to have the TV crews in town next week.

“The Agenda with Steve Paikin is TVO’s flagship show,” he points out.

Perry, who will be on a special panel on the show discussing basic income, says this will only serve to increase the profile of Lindsay and the Kawartha Lakes and “enhance our influence with the provincial government in terms of advocating for what we need municipally.”

Perry, who was named Lindsay’s ‘Citizen of the Year’ this year, says the more people “who see all we have to offer here in our area,” the better.

This includes “the environment, the food and shops, the people, the lack of traffic,” all great for attracting tourism, business and new residents, he says.

Perry notes that having the basic income program here, along with increased media, gives the town more time on a provincial stage.

“We have a lot going on in Lindsay and the Kawartha Lakes and are very proud to showcase our success.”

The Agenda will be filming at the Pie Eyed Monk Brewery on Cambridge Street North.