Carol Off wins $40,000 BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction

VANCOUVER — Veteran journalist Carol Off has won this year’s British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.

The Toronto co-host of the CBC Radio current affairs show “As It Happens” won the $40,000 prize Thursday for “All We Leave Behind: A Reporter’s Journey into the Lives of Others” (Random House Canada).

Jury members praised it as “a timely memoir that offers both context to and a closeup of uncomfortable truths: the failures of the West’s involvement in Afghanistan, the hurdles confronting refugees who seek safety in Canada, and the dilemma of a combat journalist expected to maintain professional distance from her sources.”

Off beat out finalists Ken Dryden, Doug Saunders, and Tanya Talaga.