By Judy Hagen and David Durrant
Special to Black Press
For more than 40 years, Kim Bolan has been writing articles in the Vancouver Sun entitled, The Real Scoop, exposing the underbelly of crime in the city and the province.
Her first big scoop was the revelations about the Air Indian Bombing, June 23, 1985.
Although Bolan has lived in Vancouver during her professional life, she calls the Valley home. Her career has taken her to many parts of the globe, but she fondly recalls that it was when she was living in Courtenay that she was introduced to what would become her life career.
Her Lake Trail Middle School teacher, Pat Lewis, encouraged her to begin writing in their student paper, the Lion Tracks. At G.P. Vanier High School, she credits Brent Reid with his lessons on the importance of community news when she wrote for the Stockum Pipeline. She broadened her scope to articles about the school published in the Comox District Free Press (a.k.a. the Green Sheet), then the local community newspaper, and also for the Victoria Times Colonist, whichpaid her a lofty 25 cents a column.
After earning a degree at U Vic, she knew exactly what she wanted her career path to be, so she enrolled in the journalism program at Western University in London Ontario.
In 1985 she earned her first professional accolade, the Jack Wasserman Memorial Award for investigative journalism, for her series of stories on the impact on families and residents when the Tranquille Institution at Kamloops was closed.
Bolan continued to investigate the Air India bombing for 25 years until the publication in 2005 of her book, Loss of Faith.
This full record of the devastation caused by the acts of terrorism earned her the J.W. Dafoe Book Prize (awarded to the best book on Canada, Canadians, and/or Canada’s place in the world), but more importantly led to the government calling for a full public inquiry into the RCMP and CSIS failure to discover issues both before and after the twin bombings. Her work led to death threats, the murder of a colleague and a shooting at her house, but she was determined to get justice for the 331 victims of what has been called Canada’s deadliest mass murder.
Willing to cover gang violence and organized crime for 20 years, revealing the major problems that cross British Columbia, Bolan’s cutting-edge reporting has brought death threats which required her to take extra security measures. In 2017, when she was covering a United Nations gang murder trial, she learned from a witness that there was a plot to kill her.
While cycling in Stanley Park, Bolan received a call, which she listened for some time before responded to the caller by saying “If you want to threaten me, then tell me your name otherwise stop with the anonymous threatening calls.”
As one journalist friend commented, “No one gets a pass when they have done wrong, but they are always treated fairly and with respect.”
She has sent reports from war zones in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Afghanistan and covered the separatist movement that led to the Air Indian Bombing in India, Pakistan and the U.K.
In 2024, with funding from the Lieutenant Governor’s Journalism Fellowship, she produced an in-depth series on Canada’s role in transnational organized crime, which allowed her to investigate in Oceania, Fiji and Southeast Asia.
Bolan has won or been a finalist for 47 journalism prizes throughout her 40-year career, which expresses the provincial, national and international levels for which she has received recognition.
Among her notable awards are:
• 2020 Canadian Journalism Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2018 Canadian Journalists for Free Expression’s Tara Hayer Memorial Award
• 2017 Jack Webster Foundations’ Bruce Hutchinson Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2018 an honorary doctor of letters degree from University of the Fraser Valley
Bolan maintains a steadfast bond with Courtenay and its surroundings, despite residing in Vancouver where she has raised her sons Liam and Kieran.
Her profound connection to her hometown, affectionately known as “the Valley” reflects the enduring influence of her upbringing. Bolan attributes her confidence and her ability to effect change to the invaluable support she received from exceptional educators, mentors, neighbours and lifelong friends.
The Comox Valley Walk of Achievement honours remarkable individuals from the Comox Valley whose profound impact transcends their professional and personal sphere.
These exceptional individuals inspire our youth to embrace their potential, encouraging them to dream big and explore the endless opportunities awaiting them. Their contribution instills a sense of pride in our community, affirming that we are a place that values nurtures achievement.
Kim Rosemary Bolan embodies the very essence of the Walk of Achievement mission. Through her unwavering dedication and exemplary leadership, she ignites inspiration in those around her every single day. Her extraordinary body of work stands as a testament to her enduring influence and the positive ripple effect it has on our community.
The public is welcome to celebrate Bolan’s induction to the Walk of Achievement at noon, Friday May 17 at the Sid Williams Theatre. Meet Kim, and let her know how much her work is appreciated.
