Fourth Reading

Overview

Fourth Reading was a weekly current events newsmagazine series in Canada, airing on TVOntario from 1992 to 2006. It was hosted by Steve Paikin. The show covered provincial politics in Ontario and national political issues affecting the province. Its name derived from the parliamentary convention that a bill receives three readings in a legislative house before becoming law; media coverage would therefore constitute a "fourth reading". In 1997, Minister of Education John Snobelen was being interviewed on a Thursday afternoon, for the show that would air the Friday night. During this interview, then-Premier Mike Harris announced a cabinet shuffle in which Snobelen became the Minister of Natural Resources.