Two Postmedia journalists with nearly a century of combined experience have been awarded one of Canada’s most prestigious journalism industry honours.
B.C. political columnist Vaughn Palmer, a 53-year veteran of the Vancouver Sun, and Chronicle Herald editorial cartoonist Bruce MacKinnon, now in his 40th year with Halifax publication, were co-recipients of the 2026 Michener-Baxter Award for exceptional service to Canadian journalism.
The annual award, presented by newly sworn-in Governor General Louise Arbour during a Thursday evening ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, “honours outstanding contributions to the cause of public interest journalism in Canada” by someone who dedicated their career to the field or served the industry in other ways.
“This award is intended to celebrate a consistent body of achievement that produced positive impacts on the world of journalism and benefited Canadian society in general,” the Michener Awards Foundation website reads.
Palmer first started with the Sun in the early 1970s — barely securing an intern position at the time, he reminisced on his 50th anniversary three years ago — and later became the paper’s first rock critic. After a journalism fellowship at California’s Stanford University, he was hired as the Sun’s political columnist in 1984 and has remained in that role ever since.
In his acceptance speech on Thursday, he said B.C. Premier David Eby called to congratulate him and allegedly said it was “a great chance to retire on a high note.”
“I told him: I’ll see you at the next scrum,” Palmer said, per the Sun.
Indeed, in his bio on the Sun’s website, the now 74-year-old wrote that he considers himself fortunate to have enjoyed his “version of the freedom of the press” and has “no current plan to retire.”
Congratulations, Vaughn, on this award. You’ve scorched many a government’s feet and what you do is essential for democracy. https://t.co/kisj0aMgDu
— David Eby (@Dave_Eby) May 15, 2026
Through his four decades covering provincial politics in Victoria, Palmer, “armed with a pocket calculator and relentless curiosity, he developed a remarkable talent for transforming dense ministry reports into columns governments would rather leave unread,” the foundation wrote in a press release.
“We didn’t have access to information in those days,” he said in 2023. “But if you brought out your pocket calculator and went through (the reports), you could show how they’d gone over budget on every single contract on the project.
His reporting is credited with helping to expose overspending on the Coquihalla Highway and the subsequent public inquiry; more wasteful spending related to the Site C hydroelectric dam; and the province’s plagued fast ferries program.
“His reporting and political columns remain essential reading for anyone seeking to understand public life and governance in British Columbia.”
Palmer previously received the Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award — named after his longtime Sun mentor — at the 2006 Websters Awards honouring B.C. journalism excellence.
He told the Sun he was “doubly honoured” to accept the honour with MacKinnon, “who has a whole shelf full of National Newspaper Awards.”
In fact, the Nova Scotia native will be adding his Michener-Baxter to his 10 NNA honours, 23 Atlantic Journalism Awards, a World Press Freedom Award, an Order of Canada and Order of Nova Scotia, among other accolades.
His 2018 memorial cartoon following the Humboldt Broncos bus crash, for instance, was made into a commemorative Canada Post stamp, and his work appears in the National Archives of Canada, the Library of Congress, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and other galleries.
MacKinnon, 65, started drawing weekly cartoons for the Herald in 1985 and was hired full-time a year later.
In its release, the foundation called his work “insightful, poignant, and direct, but always approachable” and noted that his “greatest skill is synthesizing often complex news stories into a single cartoon that drills to the core of an issue.
It also heralded MacKinnon’s dedication to his home province and local journalism.
“For four decades, his pencil has captured the human side of the news — empathy, anger, joy, and sadness.”
“Through his editorial cartoons, he has challenged governments, comforted communities in moments of tragedy, and reflected the values and concerns of Atlantic Canadians with compassion and wit.”
Palmer and MacKinnon are just the 14th and 15th individuals, respectively, to win the honour first handed out posthumously in 1984 to Clark Todd, a CTV London bureau chief who was tragically killed on assignment in Lebanon the year prior.
“Bruce MacKinnon and Vaughn Palmer have each shaped public understanding in profound ways through careers defined by integrity, curiosity, and an unwavering commitment to accountability,” said foundation president Margo Goodhand.
“Their work demonstrates the many forms public service journalism can take — from incisive political reporting to editorial cartooning that goes straight to the heart of a story. Both have made extraordinary contributions to Canadian public discourse.”
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