Sun reporter Bolan honoured for lifetime achievement
Kim Bolan, a longtime investigative reporter with Postmedia, has been awarded the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
The CJF’s award ceremony took place online Thursday, hosted by Rick Mercer, with awards presented by CTV anchor Lisa LaFlamme.
The CJF’s Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes those who have made outstanding lifetime contributions to journalism in Canada.
“I feel really lucky to have been able to do this job for 36 years,” Bolan said Thursday. “I consider myself a local reporter, even though the stories I have covered sometimes have national or international significance.”
In April, Bolan was named as the 2020 recipient of the CJF’s honour, for having dedicated her career to chasing truth in the face of threats and intimidation.
“Her career reads like a fastpaced crime novel, filled with murders, massive drug busts, international terrorists and death threats to a dogged, unstoppable heroine,” said Lou Clancy, visiting scholar of journalism outreach at University of Toronto’s Massey College and a member of the jury that selected Bolan.
Bolan’s career at The Vancouver Sun spans 36 years and has seen her cover some of the biggest cases in Canadian history, including the 1985 Air India bombing. She was placed under police protection while covering that, and again for threats from criminal biker gangs.
“The Vancouver newsroom joins with our journalism colleagues across Canada today in celebrating Kim’s lifetime achievement award,” said Sun and Province editor-in-chief Harold Munro. “It’s a fitting tribute to her fearless pursuit of the truth over the last four decades, a career that continues to inspire everyone in the profession.”