Globe and Mail's Steven Chase wins Amnesty award for Saudi arms sales reporting

Globe and Mail reporter Steven Chase.The Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail's Steven Chase has been awarded this year's Amnesty International Canada Media Award in the national print category for a series of stories on Canadian arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

The annual award is given for excellence in journalism on human-rights issues. Mr. Chase's investigation focused on the sale of Canadian light-armoured vehicles to the Saudi government and the sale's approval by a Liberal government avowedly dedicated to promoting human rights.

"These articles demonstrate the tenacious effort to get the facts and establish the human rights context for a massive sale of Light Armoured Vehicles to Saudi Arabia that Canadians seemed initially inclined to ignore," John Tackaberry, one of three judges, said in a statement.

Explainer: The Saudi arms deal

"While the government was suggesting they are little more than 'jeeps,' Steven Chase exposed the truth about these armoured vehicles that in some cases are to be armed and are being sold to a government implicated in war crimes in Yemen and serious human rights violations within Saudi Arabia."

Globe editor-in-chief David Walmsley hailed Mr. Chase, a reporter in the Ottawa bureau, for leading the way on the Saudi arms story.

"This award highlights the importance of covering stories that otherwise don't come up in daily discourse," Mr. Walmsley said. "Steve Chase uncovered links that cabinet ministers would prefer we not address. Showing the connection between Canadian decisions and the consequences of those actions far away is a vital part of why journalism matters."

In the video/audio category, Cullen Crozier of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network won for his coverage of the legacy of residential schools in Newfoundland and Labrador.

In the local/alternative print category, Josiah Neufeld of The United Church Observer won for his coverage of climate change's impact in Bangladesh.

In the online category, Marc Ellison and Daniel Lafrance were honoured for the graphic novel Safe House, which tells the story of female genital mutilation in Tanzania.