The Canadian Press among six Michener Award finalists

TORONTO – The Canadian Press is among six finalists for the prestigious Michener Award.

The other finalists are CBC, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Telegraph Journal and Societe Radio-Canada’s Enquete.

The award, founded in 1970 by former governor general Roland Michener, honours excellence in public service journalism.

The national news agency was cited for articles by Winnipeg-based journalist Chinta Puxley on the isolation of residents of Shoal Lake 40 in Manitoba.

The Star was given the nod for an investigation that found police keep and release “non-conviction” records about citizens during routine background checks, unfairly harming individuals.

The Globe was named finalist for a series into the tendering process for an expansion of Toronto’s St Michael’s Hospital that found lack of due diligence and serious conflicts of interest.

The Telegraph-Journal managed to obtain child-care inspection records in Saint John, N.B., that showed the provincial regulator had failed to enforce cleanliness standards, safety practices and mandatory background checks on employees.

Enquete was named finalist for a story on the disappearance of an indigenous woman from Val D’Or, Que., while the CBC, Globe and Star were cited for work on missing and murdered indigenous women.

“Their extensive and continuing coverage has provided a forum for a national conversation and will inform the impending public inquiry,” the Michener Awards Foundation said in a release.

Gov.-Gen. David Johnston will host the awards ceremony at Rideau Hall on June 17 when the 2015 Michener Award winner will be announced.