Former Prince George Citizen reporter Gordon Hoekstra is up for a second Michener Award.
Hoekstra led a Vancouver Sun team that was nominated Thursday for one of the highest awards in Canadian journalism for their investigation following the deadly explosions and fires at the Lakeland Mills and Babine Forest Products sawmills last year.
They used inspection records from WorkSafeBC, the provincial fire commissioner and local fire departments to create a database and found that frequently wood dust was involved in sawmill fires and that fire code inspections were lax.
In response, the B.C. government created a program to reduce the risk of dust explosions and major forest companies promised an independent audit of dust levels.
Hoekstra was quick to acknowledge fellow Sun reporters Kelly Sinoski and Jonathan Fowlie as well as photographers Dave Milne, now retired from The Citizen, and David Mah, who works part-time at The Citizen, for their contributions.
"It was a team effort," Hoekstra said.
He called the nomination "exciting" and an "honour," that comes on top of seeing the government take action as a result of the stories.
"And just to be able to tell the community's stories on a larger, province-wide [scale] because it helped give it a bigger voice," Hoekstra said.
In 2006, Hoekstra's series on the safety of logging truck safety, called Dying for Work, earned The Citizen a Michener. That series of more than 35 stories prompted the province to hire a forestry coroner and announce more than $20 million in upgrades to forestry roads.
Workplace deaths and injuries are a serious issue, he said.
"You don't expect to get up in the morning and be in a circumstance where you lose your life," Hoekstra. "It's as serious as it gets."
During his career, Hoekstra has also earned two Jack Webster Awards, B.C.'s foremost journalism prize and the Don McGillvray Award for investigative journalism from the Canadian Association of Journalists. He moved to The Sun in July 2011 after 19 years at The Citizen.
The Michener Award is presented annually to news organizations whose work has a major effect on public policy or the lives of Canadians. The award is given to a news organization, rather than an individual.
WorkSafeBC has handed its investigations into the two incident to Crown counsel for possible charges under the Workers Compensation Act.
In all, six finalists were announced. Governor General David Johnston will present the winner with the award during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on June 18.
