The Royal Canadian Institute for Science (RCIScience) awards the 2021 Fleming Medal for Excellence in Science Communication to journalist and author André Picard for his outstanding contributions to public health and medicine reporting in Canada, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For over 30 years, Mr. Picard has contributed to the national public conversation on health and medicine. In addition to being a staff writer at The Globe and Mail, he is the author of six bestselling books, including his most recent Neglected No More: The Urgent Need to Improve the Lives of Canada's Elders in the Wake of a Pandemic. Without his contributions, Canadians today would undoubtedly be less knowledgeable, less healthy and policymakers less accountable in their actions on a range of medical and social issues.
From the AIDS epidemic and blood crisis of the mid-80s to addiction, abortion, assisted death, mental health and today’s global COVID-19 pandemic, his writing consistently puts a human face on medical science and health policy, marrying scientific precision with sincere and principled compassion.
Picard has received much acclaim for his writing over the years, including the prestigious Michener Award for Meritorious Public Service Journalism and the Canadian Journalism Foundation Tribute Award. In 2020, he was named Canada’s top newspaper columnist at the National Newspaper Awards.
John Percy, winner of the Fleming Medal in 1997 and past-president of RCIScience comments, “Whether writing about a coronavirus outbreak or the seasonal flu, he does so with evidence, reason and power.”
Mr. Picard’s advocacy for better, more equitable health care has been honoured by many professional and consumer groups; he was named Canada’s first Public Health Hero by the Canadian Public Health Association, a Champion of Mental Health by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health, and received the Owen Adams Award, the Canadian Medical Association’s top honour for a non-physician.
David Walmsley, Editor-in-Chief of The Globe and Mail, remarks, “His vision, passion and determination for argument based on the facts are among the brightest beacons for those navigating Canada’s medical system, or in the case of the pandemic, the near collapse of public health stewardship.”
Colleague and Fleming Medal recipient (2016) Ivan Semeniuk notes, “Looking back across Mr. Picard’s remarkable body of work, it is striking to me how it anticipates and articulates the principles of evidence-based decision making long before the term was in fashion.” He remains a, “reliable source of knowledge within an expanding digital universe of misinformation and spin.”
RCIScience is very pleased to recognize André Picard in 2021, a time in which the public’s understanding of science, medicine and public health policy is perhaps more critical than it has been at any time since the Fleming Medal was created in 1982. The medal will be awarded to Mr. Picard at an online presentation on November 30, 2021.
For 172 years, RCIScience has been connecting Canadians with scientists to further our vision of an informed public that embraces science to build a stronger Canada. Since 1982, we have awarded the Sandford Fleming Medal and Citation annually to a Canadian who has made outstanding contributions to the public understanding of science – to advance our vision. Previous recipients include David Suzuki, Ursula Franklin, Chris Hadfield, Molly Shoichet, Bob MacDonald and Timothy Caulfield.