Grassy Narrows

Under Honderich’s leadership the Star has dedicated countless stories to overlooked people, including those in Indigenous communities. Reporters David Bruser and Jayme Poisson (the latter now with the CBC) won the Hillman Prize for journalistic excellence serving the common good, for examining mercury contamination in Grassy Narrows First Nation, an Ojibwa community north of Kenora. Over two years the two reporters made several trips to the community, penned about 30 stories the Star “unwaveringly published” on the front page of its newspaper and atop its website, Bruser said. “The Star also covered costs associated with our lab testing of contaminated soil,” Bruser explained. This sustained spotlight helped push the province to announce an $85-million river clean-up and Ottawa to promise to help build a new care home for those poisoned by mercury, Bruser added. The Star “shined a light and exposed the truth with a unique rigour and tenacity,” said Grassy Narrows Chief Randy Fobister. “This reporting has been critical to accountability and has helped bring about the start of progress towards cleaning our river and providing good care for our people.”