Radio-Canada podcast wins Michener Award for Lyme disease investigation

The Radio-Canada podcast Dérives has won the Michener Award, Canada's highest honour in journalism, for an 18-month investigation into the damaging effects of dubious medical claims surrounding chronic Lyme disease.

The investigation began as a deep-dive into the suicide of a young woman who believed she was suffering from a debilitating version of the illness. After extensive research, Radio-Canada found no clinical or scientific evidence that chronic Lyme disease is real.

Dérives' fourth season exposed a network of for-profit American and Canadian clinics that convinced patients they had the disease. As a result of the reporting, health authorities overhauled medical training programs and drug oversight committees, and a number of doctors were disciplined.

Governor-General Louise Arbour announced the winner Thursday night at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.

The Michener Award recognizes work that has had a significant, positive impact on public life and policy. Other finalists for the 2025 award included CTV News for its investigation into non-consensual intimate video sharing, La Presse for its trucking industry probe, The Trillium's examination of worker-training fund practices, and Winnipeg Free Press for its investigation of teacher oversight flaws.

The Globe and Mail was also a finalist for its investigation into Alberta's health care procurement scandal, a controversy that has upended Alberta politics and triggered an RCMP investigation. The reporting required new levels of determination, and journalist Carrie Tait was surveilled and targeted with online harassment during her investigation. "Because of intimidation, one reporter was, for a time, forced into hiding," Globe Editor-in-Chief David Walmsley said. "Every Canadian should be aware of that—of the threats and, equally, of The Globe and Mail's response to such tactics."