2607:FEA8:C300:7600:1CB:75DF:F54B:1FD5 at 15:51, 19 March 2021

2021-03-19T15:51:06Z

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'''Kim Rosemary Bolan''' (born 1959)<ref>https://viaf.org/processed/LAC|0060H0035{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2015-05-18.</ref> is a Canadian [[journalist]] who has been a [[reporter]] at ''[[The Vancouver Sun]]'' since her journalism career began in 1984. She has reported on minority, women's, education, and [[social services]] issues; wars in [[El Salvador]], [[Guatemala]] and [[Afghanistan]];<ref name="RHbio"/> [[Sikh extremism]], and the bombing and trials related to [[Air India Flight 182]]. [[CBC Radio]] has also featured her work. On May 4, 2017, while covering a murder trial of a former leader of the UN Gang, Bolan learned that she had been the subject of a murder plot, which she reported on in an article published on May 24, 2017, in the ''Vancouver Sun''.<ref name="RHbio">{{cite web|url=http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=69155|title=Author Spotlight : Kim Bolan|publisher=Random House|accessdate=2009-07-15}}</ref>

== Early career ==
Bolan grew up in [[Courtenay, British Columbia|Courtenay]] on [[Vancouver Island]]. She was a writer in high school, contributing to the ''[[Comox, British Columbia|Comox]] District Free Press'' and she sent stories on the bus to [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]] to be published in the daily ''[[Times Colonist]]'' newspaper. While attending the [[University of Victoria]] she worked as sports editor of ''The [[Oak Bay, British Columbia|Oak Bay]] Star''.<ref name=uwo>{{cite web|title=Alumni Profiles: Kim Bolan MA '84|url=http://www.fims.uwo.ca/acad_programs/grad/journalism/alumniprofiles/bolank.htm|website=University of Western Ontario|publisher=Faculty of Information & Media Studies|accessdate=8 July 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805012114/http://www.fims.uwo.ca/acad_programs/grad/journalism/alumniprofiles/bolank.htm|archivedate=5 August 2014}}</ref>

Bolan then graduated with a Master's degree in journalism from the [[University of Western Ontario]] in the 1980s.<ref name=vanmag>{{cite news|title=Inside Vancouver: Crime and Punishment|url=http://www.vanmag.com/News_and_Features/Crime_Punishment|accessdate=8 July 2014|work=[[Vancouver Magazine]]|date=June 1, 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714161702/http://www.vanmag.com/News_and_Features/Crime_Punishment|archivedate=14 July 2014}}</ref>

== Awards and honours ==
Bolan has won or "been shortlisted for" 15 awards.<ref name="RHbio"/>

Bolan won the [[International Women's Media Foundation#Courage in Journalism Awards|Courage in Journalism Award]] presented by the [[International Women's Media Foundation]]<ref name="WPFPresent"/> in 1999.<ref name="CJFEcourage">{{cite web|url=http://www.cjfe.org/releases/1999/bolan.html|title=NEWS RELEASE: Canadian Kim Bolan wins IWMF Courage in Journalism Award|date=27 September 1999|publisher=Canadian Journalists for Free Expression|accessdate=2009-07-15|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091016002538/http://www.cjfe.org/releases/1999/bolan.html|archivedate=16 October 2009}}</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/20110809111644/http://www.iwmf.org/article.aspx?id=565&c=cijwinner IWMF website]</ref>

In 2000, the Canadian Committee for World Press Freedom (the National Press Club of Canada) presented its 1st Press Freedom Award (1999) to Bolan for continuing her investigations after she was "...threatened with violence and placed under police protection during her investigative reporting on the Air India bombing."<ref name="CCWPF">{{cite web|url=http://www.ccwpf-cclpm.ca/press-freedom-day-lunch/past-winners |title=Previous winners of the Press Freedom Award are |publisher=Canadian Committee for World Press Freedom |accessdate=2009-07-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501045216/http://www.ccwpf-cclpm.ca/press-freedom-day-lunch/past-winners |archivedate=2009-05-01 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.canada.ifex.org/fr/content/view/full/26585/ KIM BOLAN RECEIVES CANADIAN PRESS FREEDOM AWARD]{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} - International Press Freedom Information Exchange, May 2000</ref>
[[David Kilgour]], then Secretary of State, presented the award and concluded by saying "Today, in recognition of her strength of character, professionalism and courage to continue in her role as a leading journalist in the face of threats and other forms of extreme intimidation, the National Press Club of Canada is pleased to award the Press Freedom Award to Kim Bolan of the Vancouver Sun."<ref name="WPFPresent">{{cite web|url=http://www.david-kilgour.com/secstate/pressfre.htm|title= World Press Freedom Award Presentation:Speaking notes for Hon. David Kilgour|date=May 3, 2000|accessdate=2009-07-15}}</ref>

In 2001, the [[British Columbia Civil Liberties Association]] awarded her with the Reg Robson award for her "fearless commitment to freedom of expression".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://bccla.org/about/reg-robson-award/reg-robson-award-recipients/#kimbolan|title=Reg Robson Award Recipients - BC Civil Liberties Association|work=BC Civil Liberties Association|access-date=2017-04-14|language=en-US}}</ref> The award is given to honour people who have demonstrated a substantial and long-lasting contribution to civil liberties issues in British Columbia and Canada.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://bccla.org/about/reg-robson-award/|title=Reg Robson Award - BC Civil Liberties Association|work=BC Civil Liberties Association|access-date=2017-04-14|language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2006 [[PEN Canada]] presented her with the [[PEN Canada#Awards and fellowships|Paul Kidd Courage Prize]]<ref name="PaulKidd">{{cite web|url=http://www.pencanada.ca/media/Media-PENPaulKidd-03Oct06.pdf|title=Journalist Kim Bolan chosen as the winner of the PEN Canada/Paul Kidd Courage Prize|date=October 3, 2006|publisher=PEN Canada|accessdate=2009-07-15|quote=In the jury's words, "Kim Bolan has devoted much of her career to the Air India affair, which is probably the biggest criminal story in Canada of the past 20 years.|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617030938/http://www.pencanada.ca/media/Media-PENPaulKidd-03Oct06.pdf|archivedate=June 17, 2009}}</ref>

Reporting on her speech at the [[Fraser Institute]] in 2007, [[The Times of India]] reported that Bolan still received death threats over her coverage of the 1985 Air India bombing.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Rest_of_World/Canadian_journalist_hits_out_at_Sikh_extremism/articleshow/2164926.cms|title=Canadian journalist hits out at Sikh extremism|date=1 July 2007|work=The Times of India|accessdate=2009-05-30|quote=... who continues to receive death threats via mail and telephone for her coverage of the Air India bombing. }} {{Dead link|date=April 2011|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}</ref>

=="Political storm" of 2007==
In February 2007, Canadian Prime Minister [[Stephen Harper]] caused "a political storm" by trying to read part of a Bolan article into the record of the [[House of Commons of Canada]]. He was suggesting his Liberal opponents were refusing to extend [[anti-terrorism]] measures in order to protect the father-in-law of a [[Member of Parliament]].<ref>[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=https://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FRTGAM.20070222.wbains0222%2FBNStory%2FNational%2F&ord=967763&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true No apology for Bains] By Tenille Bonoguore, ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'' Update and [[Canadian Press]], Published February 22, 2007, Retrieved on June 22, 2007 (subscription required)</ref>

==Books==
Kim Bolan's first book, "Loss of Faith: How the Air-India Bombers Got Away With Murder", was published in 2005.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bolan|first=Kim|title=Loss of Faith: How the Air India Bombers Got Away with Murder|publisher=McClelland & Stewart|year=2005|edition=Illustrated|pages=380|isbn= 9780771011306|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fqzjPQAACAAJ}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Air India Flight 182]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://blogs.vancouversun.com/category/staff/crime-and-justice/the-real-scoop/ The Real Scoop] - Kim Bolan's blog at ''The Vancouver Sun''
* {{LCAuth|n2006030887|Kim Bolan|1|ue}}
{{Air India Flight 182}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolan, Kim}}
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:Canadian women journalists]]
[[Category:Air India Flight 182]]
[[Category:Journalists from British Columbia]]
[[Category:Vancouver Sun people]]
[[Category:Writers from Vancouver]]
[[Category:Canadian women non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Kim Bolan - Revision history

2607:FEA8:C300:7600:1CB:75DF:F54B:1FD5 at 15:51, 19 March 2021