Free Press journalist receives honourable mention for coverage of Brian Sinclair inquest

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This article was published 03/03/2015 (3334 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Free Press reporter Kevin Rollason has received an honourable mention award by the Sidney Hillman Foundation, which announced its 2015 Canadian Hillman Prize winner on Wednesday.

Rollason received the honourable mention by the Hillman Foundation for his “meticulous coverage of the senseless death of Brian Sinclair, a disabled aboriginal man who died from a treatable infection after being ignored for 34 hours in a Winnipeg hospital emergency waiting room.”

Sinclair, 45, died of complications involving a bladder infection on Sept. 21, 2008, after spending 34 hours in the Health Sciences Centre’s emergency waiting room without being triaged.

Rollason’s While He Waited series reflected coverage of the inquest into Sinclair’s death. The inquest stretched over 10 months (August 2013 to June 2014) and heard testimony from 79 witnesses. It was discovered Sinclair may have died up to seven hours before he was discovered by hospital staff.

The 2015 Canadian Hillman Prize winners were the Toronto Star reporting team of investigative editor Kevin Donovan, freelancer Jesse Brown, and Star staffers Jayme Poisson, Emily Mathieu and Randy Risling for their coverage of the sexual harassment allegations against then-prominent CBC Radio host Jian Ghomeshi.

The other honourable mention went to CBC News for its coverage of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

For Rollason, this is the third time he has received major recognition for his coverage of the emergency room death of Sinclair.

Rollason was named health reporter of the year by the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians last year. He also earned a special mention in the print media category by the Canadian Medical Association in the list of the 2014 CMA media awards for health reporting.

Rollason and CBC will each receive $1,000 prizes as honourable mentions at the Canadian Hillman Prize ceremony and reception on March 12 in Toronto.

The Toronto Star reporters will share $3,000 and travel to New York City to participate in the U.S. Hillman Prize ceremony to be held May 5.

Since 1950, the Sidney Hillman Foundation has honoured journalists, writers and public figures who pursue social justice and public policy for the common good. Sidney Hillman was the founding president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union, a predecessor union of Workers United, SEIU.