The call for entries for the 2017 Canadian Hillman Prizes is on now through January 13, 2017. The Canadian Hillman recognizes excellence in journalism for the common good. The winner will receive $5000 and a trip to New York City for the Hillman Prize awards ceremony in May. There is no fee to enter.

Click here for the complete rules and eligbility criteria 

Last year, Kathryn Blaze Baum and her team at the Globe & Mail won for their unforgettable submission, “A Country’s Crisis: Canada’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.”

The year before, the honor went to Kevin Donovan, Jesse Brown, Jayme Poisson, Emily Mathieu, Randy Risling for exposing sexual assault and harrassment at all levels of Canadian society.  

Our distinguished Canadian judges are the celebrated journalists Bonnie Brown, and Tony Burman, and the esteemed progressive economist Armine Yalnizyan.

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Johnny Copelyn, a former South African labor leader and member of parliament, discussed his new memoir, “Maverick Insider,” in Manhattan on Thursday night. The talk was sponsored by the Sidney Hillman Foundation and hosted by 1199 SEIU. Copelyn was introduced by his longtime friend and colleague Bruce Raynor, the president of the Hillman Foundation. 

Copelyn’s memoir covers his 40-year career in the South African labor movement, starting with the first wave of labor radicalism in 1973 when brick-makers in Durbin shocked the nation by successfully agitating for a raise of one Rand a week. Their success sparked a national trend. Eventually, labor unions became second only to churches as institutions for black South Africans agitating for freedom. 

The South African labor movement was a key ally of the African National Congress. Copelyn explained that such interconnectedness created complications after South Africa’s first multi-racial democratic elections in 1994. Labor was so closely associated with the ruling party that many labor leaders were also government officials. Copelyn argued that this loss of independence was a problem for South African labor because it put union leaders in the uncomfortable position of defending government policies that their membership didn’t necessarily with. Copelyn argued that labor in South Africa has yet to fully recover from this loss of independence. 

Copelyn also discussed the complexities of unions owning and running for-profit businesses, including liquor companies and casinos. The wine served at the talk was supplied by a union-owned South African winery. 

Sidney’s Picks: The Best of the Week’s News

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• How bad science misled chronic fatigue patients.