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Award-winning reporter Brian Fitzpatrick joins the IJB as senior editor
Brian Fitzpatrick joins the Investigative Journalism Bureau as a senior editor, bringing a decade’s worth of investigative experience to the newsroom. In Canada, Fitzpatrick worked at the Toronto Star before taking up roles with Postmedia, first in Saskatchewan and then at the National Post in Toronto, where he latterly served as deputy news editor. In… Read more
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Tainted waters: Oysters are making people sick. The cause is disturbing
Agatha Khishchenko and Andy Lehren/New York City News Service Mark Kapczynski had been looking forward to it for weeks. He had VIP tickets for him and his wife to attend an upscale seafood festival in Los Angeles last December where they would feast on the food he grew up eating as a kid in Boston.… Read more
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Head of secret research lab that used dogs in tests no longer at the Ontario hospital
The head of a research lab that induced heart attacks in dogs as part of human heart research is no longer with St. Joseph’s Hospital where she oversaw the animal experimentation. A week after an IJB investigation into the clandestine dog testing program at St. Joseph’s triggered widespread public and political outrage, the hospital, which shut down… Read more
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Hospital announces end to “inhumane” dog research after IJB investigation
After decades of secretly inducing heart attacks in dogs as part of cardiac research, St. Joseph’s Hospital ended the practice on Monday in the aftermath of an Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB) investigation. In a public statement, the Lawson Research Institute at St. Joseph’s announced it will “immediately cease research studies involving dogs” following consultation with… Read more
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Puppies secretly tested and killed at Ontario hospital for human heart research
London, Ont. — Surrounded by security staff, an unmarked white van pulls up to a receiving door behind St. Joseph’s Hospital. Scrub-clad staff quickly remove large boxes covered with blankets from the van and slide them into the building. Hidden beneath those blankets are puppies in cages headed for the hospital’s sixth-floor research lab, according… Read more
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Reporter reflection: pulling back the curtain on toxic workplace culture at Canada’s leading mental health facility
We rely on health care workers in some of our most vulnerable moments. It’s no secret that the system they work in is under strain, and those on the front lines providing acute care are overworked and often under-supported. But what about the unique challenges faced by mental health workers? Mental health care has evolved… Read more
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‘They make you doubt your sanity.’ Staff describe toxic workplace at top mental health hospital
Many staff inside the country’s leading mental health institution say they are suffering their own trauma from a toxic workplace rife with discrimination and bullying. Anonymous employee feedback from health-care providers at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) include widespread staff complaints about a work culture they say left them with mental health challenges including… Read more
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Behind the Reporting: Susanne Reber on the things we don’t want to talk about
There are some things most people don’t want to talk about, because it’s uncomfortable or it pushes their emotional limits. Well that’s usually where things start for me and my long time collaborators at IJB and TVO. It has become the hallmark of our work together. A few years ago Robert Cribb, IJB director and… Read more
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Environmental lawyers demand action on lead in school drinking water
A leading group of environmental lawyers has asked the province to immediately address high levels of lead in drinking water at three school boards now under government control. “Three of the school boards now overseen by your Ministry… reported the three highest numbers of lead exceedances among school boards in the province in 2023/24,” wrote… Read more
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Behind the stories: mental health in journalism
As journalists, we’re trained to keep the microphone pointed outward as we gather the pain of others. But in recent years, there has been growing acknowledgement of the mental distress inflicting the tellers of difficult stories. The urgency of mental health challenges among journalists is real. The Taking Care Report, a national survey of 1,200… Read more
