Globe and Mail’s Howlett retires after nearly 40 years

Karen Howlett, a longtime business reporter who has worked at The Globe and Mail in Toronto for nearly 40 years, retired on Friday.

She has been a member of The Globe and Mail’s investigative team since 2013. A series of stories on illicit fentanyl and Purdue Pharma she did with colleagues was awarded a National Newspaper Award among other honors, including a Digital Publishing Award for best national news coverage. Her most enduring work began in 2015 — chronicling, along with colleague Greg McArthur, the alleged collusion and kickbacks involving former executives of Bondfield Construction and St. Michael’s Hospital.

Howlett first worked for The Globe as a reporter in the Report on Business, where her beats included financial services, securities regulation and a two-year posting in the newspaper’s British Columbia Bureau. She also spent seven years in The Globe’s Queen’s Park Bureau covering provincial politics.

Karen is a three-time National Newspaper Award winner. Two projects she led on stock market manipulation and unethical mutual fund practices were finalists for Canada’s Michener Award.