Welcome to the 50th season of The Fifth Estate.
We are doing something special to kick off the season. Last spring, we asked viewers to send us ideas for stories that you felt weren’t getting attention in the news, especially given the shrinking media landscape in this country.
The crowdsourced Local News Research Project reveals that in the last 16 years, 519 local news outlets have closed in Canada.
We were inundated with great tips. This week, we bring you the first one we investigated: a viewer wanted us to shine a national spotlight on a violent crime spree in Dawson Creek, B.C., which, over the past three years, has left 11 people killed or missing in a town of slightly more than 12,000 people.
Never mind any convictions. To date, no arrests have been made. We spent months talking to people in town, hearing their frustrations about getting the attention of the RCMP, the B.C. government or anyone who could help the town find solutions to the rampant drug use, property crimes and violent crimes that are tearing families apart.
Dawson Creek’s story will be familiar to many other small towns in Canada. Our months-long investigation has raised questions about the RCMP response, put questions to people who may have information about the killings and made certain the families of the missing and killed had a platform to take their concerns to a national audience.
All in the name of justice, accountability and healing.
Watch “Dawson Creek: We Want Our Town Back” right now on YouTube and tonight at 9 p.m. on CBC-TV, CBC Gem and streaming on CBC News Explore.
Mark Kelley,
Host, “Dawson Creek: We Want Our Town Back” |
