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The CBC/Radio-Canada and The Canadian Press
win 2008 Michener Award
Frédéric Zalac, SRC; Jim Bronskill, Canadian Press;
Her Excellency Michaëlle Jean; Esther Enkin, CBC.
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Ottawa, June 10, 2009 – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada
and The Canadian Press (CP) have won the 2008 Michener Award for
a joint project that analyzed and reported on the use of Taser stun
guns, David Humphreys, President of the Michener Awards Foundation,
announced today.
The news organizations of CBC/Radio-Canada and CP teamed up to produce
a joint investigative series on Taser stun guns and particularly
their use by the RCMP. They collaborated on data analysis, identification
of vital trends, interviews and preparation of stories for newspapers,
websites, radio and television.
The group investigative team built and analyzed a database of documents
describing thousands of RCMP Taser records obtained after a 15-month
fight for access. They revealed the extent to which the RCMP had
“zapped” suspects multiple times with Tasers during a soaring number
of stun gun firings. And because no authorities had properly tested
Tasers in Canada, CBC/Radio-Canada undertook what became the largest
independent electrical testing of Tasers ever conducted in the world.
The analysis revealed that 10 per cent of the weapons tested were
either defective or behaved unexpectedly, with some discharging
significantly more electrical current than the manufacturer’s standard.
(Jim Bronskill, The Canadian
Press and Frédéric Zalac,
SRC talk about the Taser project).
As a result of the investigation, most provinces pulled their Tasers
to have them tested. Recent results from Quebec, British Columbia
and Alberta have verified the test results. As a consequence of
this investigation, jurisdictions across the country have either
already announced or are considering implementing regular testing
and certification of all Tasers being used by their police officers.
(link to the award winning
Taser Stun Gun series)
In a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Her Excellency Michaëlle
Jean, Governor General of Canada, presented coveted Michener
Award trophies to Frédéric Zalac of SRC, Esther Enkin, executive
editor of CBC News and Jim Bronskill, national reporter of The Canadian
Press for their combined entry. Esther Enkin, representing the CBC,
said in her acceptance speech, that she didn't envy the
task of the judges..adding, "I don't
know how I would have made the choice, so thank you. And that makes
it even more of a privilege to have won among such an incredible
and impressive range of stories. Congratulations to everyone".
(The full text of Ms Enkin's acceptance speech)
2009 Michener-Deacon Fellowship:
 The Governor
General also presented the 2009 Michener-Deacon Fellowship to Edmonton
Journal reporter Ed Struzik for a project on arctic sovereignty.
The fellowship will allow Mr. Struzik to join an expedition of geologists
who are building a case for Canada to claim an arctic area the size
of the three prairie provinces. A skilled photographer and canoeist,
he has been writing about environmental issues for the past 28 years
and has lived and worked in the Yukon and Northwest Territories
and visited every community in the Canadian North. (Full Details)
 A Special Award was presented by Her
Excellency to Clark Davey “whose lifetime work exemplifies
the best in public service journalism". David Humphreys said Mr.
Davey has served the Michener Awards Foundation for 25 years. His
career, including terms as publisher of The Vancouver Sun, The Ottawa
Citizen and The Gazette of Montreal, has been highly supportive
of the kind of investigative journalism the Michener Award encourages
and honours. (Full details)
In her opening address during the award ceremony and with specific
reference to the invited journalists, the Governor General said
that.."Faced with a world that always seems to be in crisis, robbed
of its dignity, stripped of its beauty, divided in its fragility,
warming at its poles, and assaulted by the fluctuations of its economies,
we must also be given the power to reflect, raise our awareness
and seek clarification. I think that that is the most important
- and noble - aspect of your profession". (The full text)
 David Humphreys said that the news media are going through
a difficult period. New technologies, the recession and budget cuts
are taking their toll. But faced with fewer newspapers and reduced
television news resources he said that “we want to do everything
we can within our own limited means to promote the kind of journalism
that is represented here this evening”. He announced that for the
first time, CPAC, the Cable Public Affairs Channel will be
broadcasting the 2008 Michener Award ceremony on its national network.
(The full text)
Michener Citations of Merit were presented to:
The Hamilton Spectator: Following an extended outbreak of
Clostridium Difficile at Burlington’s Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital
that claimed the lives of 91 elderly patients, The Spectator launched
an investigation on many fronts using Access or Information legislation,
computer assisted reporting and investigative techniques. A team
of reporters contributed to more than 100 stories, published over
eight months. The Spectator eventually revealed more than 450 deaths
at just 22 of Ontario’s 158 hospitals as a result of C.difficile.
The reports disclosed that the province failed to heed the advice
of its patient safety expert to make the reporting of C.difficile
mandatory. The coverage was crucial to action taken by the Ontario
government to increase funding for infection control and to require
hospitals in the province to report publicly on outbreaks of C.difficile
infections. (Hamilton
Spectator journalist Joan Walters, explains the background
to the C.difficile investigation)
Toronto Star: Scientific tests conducted by the newspaper
resulted in a series of stories on high level of lead in toys being
sold in Canada. This led to the largest series of product recalls
in Canadian history after federal officials confirmed the Star’s
findings. Millions of toys were recalled. The investigation found
that toys that could easily be swallowed by a toddler or chewed
by a baby were heavily laced with lead. The federal government vowed
swift action (announced in the Speech from the Throne last fall)
to toughen toy safety laws to protect consumers and their children.
(Toronto Star staff reporter
David Bruser talks about the Toxic Toys investigation)
Winnipeg Free Press: A two-year investigation of the state
of the First Nations child welfare system in Manitoba was triggered
by the tragic death of a five-year-old girl who had been starved,
beaten and tortured. The Free Press found that the agency responsible
for protecting her did not know she was missing until nine months
after her death. The legislation that established the First Nations
child welfare system failed to require that child safety must by
the primary consideration in placing children in care. During the
investigation another child in care was killed. The agency fought
back and accused the Free Press of racism and intolerance. Two years
after the investigation began, the provincial Child
and Family Service Act was amended to make child safety the primary
consideration. (Margo Goodhand,
Editor of the Free Press, on her newspaper's two-year investigation)
Le Courrier de Saint-Hyacinthe: An 18-month investigation
by the weekly newspaper resulted in the publication of a
shocking report of misuse of public funds, illegal political
contributions, non-approved and non-verified expense allowances
and suspicious international missions by the CEGEP of
Saint-Hyacinthe. The abuses included allowing foreign students
to study free of cost and sumptuous spending, turning a large
surplus into a deficit. As a result of the investigation, the
Director General of the college and the Director in charge of
students and the international students programme were fired.
The newspaper’s reports became the basis of a full provincial
inquiry by the Auditor General covering all CEGEPS. The
recommendations for improved governance at CEGEPs formed an
entire chapter of the Auditor General’s 2008-2009 Report. The
Department of Education presented “Quebec Law 110”, which
changes the governance and fiscal control for all CEGEPs in the
province. The independently-owned regional newspaper with a
staff of seven was threatened with legal action on three
occasions. (Martin
Bourassa on the CEGEP controversy - French only)
The Globe and Mail: A six-month investigation of Canada’s
911 system for handling telephone emergency calls found that outdated
technology was being used in Canada while industry and regulators
dragged their feet on changes. The story began when a Calgary baby
died after an ambulance was mistakenly dispatched to an address
in Ontario. The Globe reported that regulators were warned about
72 cases with problems that were similar to the those that led to
death of the baby in Calgary but failed to require the proper safeguards.
Among the findings was evidence that Canada’s 911 system has lagged
other countries because of industry infighting and regulatory standoffs.
After the investigation the federal government ordered a nation-wide
update of the country’s emergency phone system, including technology
to locate 911 calls from cell phones.(Globe and Mail reporter Grant
Robertson and the 911 investigation)
Judges for the 2008 Michener Award:
Russell Mills (Vice President and Chair of Judging), Executive Dean
of the Faculty of Arts, Media and Design, Algonquin College in Ottawa
and former publisher of the Ottawa Citizen; Kim Kierans, Professor
and Director of the School of Journalism at the University of Kings
College in Halifax and former CBC News reporter and editor; Donna
Logan, Professor Emerita and Founding Director of the School of
Journalism at the University of British Columbia and former Vice
President of Regional Broadcasting for the CBC; René Roseberry,
former News Editor, Le Nouvelliste, Trois Rivières and President
of the Grad Prix des Hebdos du Québec and former Director of Information
and Public Relations, Université du Québec; Christopher Waddell,
occupant of the Carty Chair in Business and Financial Journalism
at Carleton University and former National Editor of The Globe and
Mail and Parliamentary Bureau Chief for CBC Television News.
Judges for the 2009 Michener-Deacon Fellowship:
Lindsay Crysler (chair), former managing editor of The Gazette,
Montreal; former director journalism department, Concordia University,
Montreal; Clinton Archibald, professor of public ethics, St. Paul
University, Ottawa; Lynne Van Luven, associate professor of journalism
& creative non-fiction, University of Victoria; Erin Steuter, chair
of the sociology department, Mount Allison University, Sackville,
NB; Professor Marc Raboy, Beaverbrook Chair in Ethics, Media and
Communications, McGill University.
The Michener Award is the only Canadian journalism award bearing
the name of a Governor General and it is won by the news
organization rather than individual journalists. The Award is
presented annually for journalism that makes a significant
impact on the public good.
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