Vancouver Courier columnist Jessica Barrett received the City Mike Award for Commentator of the Year at last night’s prestigious Jack Webster Awards.
Named in honour of the insightful and outspoken journalist Jack Webster, the awards recognize B.C.-based journalists working for B.C. news organizations on stories for B.C. audiences.
Judges highlighted Barrett’s “fresh and refreshing perspective to the critical issues,” calling her columns on the challenges people under 40 face living in Canada’s most expensive city “compelling and important for all readers… the kind of column that could go on page one.”
In 2015, Barrett wrote “Is it time to leave Vancouver,” about the affordability crisis, which examined, from a millennial’s perspective, whether it was time to leave the city in light of skyrocketing house prices. It went viral and it was also the Courier’s most-read post that year.
Barrett also penned a popular piece about the B.C. government’s reluctance to intervene in the housing market, as well as a column about how stressful it is for young people to stay afloat in Vancouver and another calling on provincial political parties to make housing a major part of their election platforms.
Her columns run twice a month in the Courier.
In 2014, columnist Allen Garr also received the City Mike Commentator of the Year Award.
