The Empire Club of Canada
Hybrid
Wednesday, October 1, 2025
As the Canada-U.S. relationship dominates discussions on both sides of the border, relationships with our U.S. partners could not be more important. The state of Michigan – with bilateral trade at over $95 Billion dollars annually (and $68 Billion dollars between Ontario and Michigan alone) — is Canada’s largest U.S. trading jurisdiction in such sectors as auto, manufacturing and services. Michigan and Canada are literally linked together.
They share a border and key natural resources including four of the five Great Lakes. Canada and Michigan must work together to tackle big economic and environmental challenges from trade to climate change. As proud manufacturing partners with the same end goals of bringing critical supply chains home, creating good-paying jobs, and delivering prosperity for local families, Canada and Michigan have an opportunity to model what a productive, international partnership looks like to the rest of the world.
On Wednesday October 1st, 2025, the Empire Club of Canada will partner with the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada (AmCham), to present The Canada-Michigan Relationship an address by The Honorable Gretchen Whitmer, Governor of Michigan. Governor Whitmer’s insights will be followed by a fireside chat moderated by award winning journalist Steve Paiken, host of TVO Today Live. This event will occur during Governor Whitmer’s visit to Canada to Chair the 2025 Leadership Summit of the Great Lakes St Lawrence Governors and Premiers. This event will be invaluable to understand the evolving trade landscape.
Don’t miss your chance to be part of this event. Secure your tickets today!
Gretchen Whitmer is the 49th Governor of Michigan, serving since 2019. She’s a pragmatic, proven leader who has signed more than 1,500 bipartisan bills into law and enacted six balanced budgets. She’s focused on growing and diversifying Michigan’s economy, investing in students and schools, and fixing all kinds of infrastructure from roads and pipes to housing and high-speed internet. Under her leadership, Michigan has become a top ten state for doing business, cut taxes for seniors and working families, and lowered the cost of pre-K, job training, and higher education for hundreds of thousands of people. Governor Whitmer is a proud Michigan State University alumna, mother of two, and lives in Lansing with her husband, Dr. Marc Mallory, and their dogs, Kevin and Doug.
For more than four decades, Steve Paikin has been a sober voice of rational, fact-based journalism in a world where “alternative facts” too often seem in vogue. For 19 seasons, he hosted The Agenda with Steve Paikin on TVO, the Ontario public broadcaster’s flagship nightly current affairs program.
He continues to co-host the #onpoli podcast, focusing on provincial affairs, with his pal John Michael McGrath. That program, which begins its sixth season in September 2025, airs Fridays at 8 and 11 pm on TVO, and is also available on YouTube and all podcasting platforms.
Steve also writes a weekly column during the broadcast season for tvo’s website, tvo.org. He writes a bi-weekly interview column for the Toronto Star. The Paikin Podcast is his first major attempt at journalism outside the legacy media world.
Steve has also written ten books, including biographies on former Ontario premiers Bill Davis and John Robarts, former prime minister John Turner, and Canadian politics in general.
Steve’s strictly non-partisan approach to covering politics has resulted in his having been asked to moderate four federal election leaders’ debates and five Ontario provincial election leaders’ debates.
Steve was born in Hamilton, Ontario, earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Victoria University at the University of Toronto, and his Master’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism at Boston University. He has been granted honorary doctorates at Laurentian University (2012), Victoria University at the University of Toronto, McMaster University (2016), York University (2017), and Toronto Metropolitan University (2025), plus honorary diplomas at Humber College (2017), Centennial College (2018), Mohawk College (2018), and Fanshawe College.
Steve was invested as an officer of the Order of Canada by Governor General David Johnston, and a member of the Order of Ontario by Lieutenant Governor David Onley, both in 2013. In 2025, Lieutenant Governor Edith Dumont presented him with a King Charles III Coronation Medal. In 2012, Victoria Tennant presented him with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2025, the Public Policy Forum gave him the lifetime achievement award for excellence in journalism.
Steve tends to fall in love with hard luck sports teams. He loves the Toronto Maple Leafs despite no Stanley Cups since 1967. He adores his hometown Hamilton Tiger-Cats despite no Grey Cups since 1999. His patience with the Boston Red Sox finally paid off with four World Series in the 21st century.
