CALGARY -- COVID-19: The Spread of Racism has been awarded a coveted 2021 RTDNA Canada - Prairie Region prize in the enterprise category.

The documentary explores the rise of racism and discrimination targeting Chinese-Canadians, as well as other Canadians of Asian descent, during the pandemic and includes firsthand accounts from victims of the attacks. 

CTV News Calgary video journalist and news anchor Kathy Le produced the documentary with research, editing and interview gathering contributions from multiple members of the newsroom team including Josh Richardson, Simon Jones, Matt Burlet, David Rossler, Joe Sawan, Jim Seymour, Robyn Reed and Dawn Walton.

"I am still in complete shock over this," said Le after learning of the award. "I'm just so proud of the team at CTV Calgary for all their hard work.

"Truly though, the real MVPs are the individuals who bravely came forward to share their experiences with the world. The issue of racism and discrimination toward Asian people during the pandemic is still happening. I commend the activists, community members, allies and journalists everywhere for keeping the story alive. I’m glad we played a part highlighting the issue and I’m thankful our story is being recognized."

The project, which took three months to produce, aired in prime time on CTV Calgary and nationally on W5, and garnered an influx of messages of support from the community at large.