“I have had the privilege of working with Andy at the Toronto Star for more than a decade. He has played a vital role on the investigations team at every stage of the process, from vetting data to determine whether we have a story to cleaning and analyzing large data sets, to verifying our numbers and conclusions on deadline, to make sure we’re bulletproof. He has made essential contributions to many award-winning stories and projects, and always keeps his cool under pressure.”

Rachel Mendleson

Staff Reporter

Toronto Star

    “After two decades working with Andy on large-scale data projects for Canada's largest newspaper, I can say he is, without reservation, among the best in the data journalism business. He's helped my colleagues and I navigate intractable data challenges, harnessing massive volumes of data, analyzing it through a storytelling lens and creating powerful accountability journalism that has changed public policy and countless lives. Equally important, he does it all with grace, charm and collegiality that are unmatched. Andy is that rare combination of genius and generosity. It has been a great honor to work with him.”

Rob Cribb

Staff Reporter

Toronto Star

   “Andy has been an instrumental part of my work as the Toronto Star’s Labour reporter. His acuity and hard work have resulted in two award-winning projects that I am very proud to share with him.”

   “The first was a Michener-nominated undercover investigation into the use of temporary help agencies that took over a year to complete. Thanks to Andy, we were able to prove for the first time in Canada that temporary help agency workers were twice as likely to be injured on the job, than their directly-hired counterparts. After these findings were published, the Ontario government passed new laws that constituted some of the strongest temp agency worker protections on the continent. Andy’s contributions were invaluable to that outcome, and the project as a whole.”

   “Andy also provided crucial data analysis for an investigation into labour trafficking prosecutions in Canada. His work helped demonstrate the rise of these prosecutions and synthesize significant amounts of data on these cases. In addition to being hugely helpful during the reporting process, Andy’s work also made these stories more accessible and digestible for readers. The stories went on to win a National Newspaper Award for best business story of the year, a CAJ award for labour reporting, and a SABEW award for investigative reporting.”

   “Andy is a joy to work with. He is meticulous and sharp in his data analysis. But he also takes care to understand why a story matters, and is truly committed to public service journalism. I consider myself very lucky to have benefitted from his talent.”

Sara Mojtehedzadeh

Investigations, Work and Wealth

Toronto Star

   “Andy Bailey’s excellent data skills, combined with his innate journalistic instincts, have served as the sturdy foundation for dozens and dozens of Toronto Star investigations into everything from racial disparities in police stops, arrests and use of force, to inequities in how children and youth are treated by children’s aid societies, to unsafe levels of lead in drinking water. I’ve had the extreme pleasure of being one of many journalists to work with Andy on some of these most impactful Canadian public service journalism stories in the past 20 years. I am biased — perhaps because I also consider Andy a friend — but I can think of no better data mastermind to work with than Andy. He is curious, creative, diligent, questioning, quick to respond and utterly dependable. I would call him a 'secret weapon,' but with so many bylines on so many big stories, that secret was out long ago. His name is on almost all of them. A pleasure to work with."

Jim Rankin

Staff Reporter-Photographer

Toronto Star

   “Andy’s rare talent and energy in scrappy pursuit has propelled some of our newsroom’s most indelible stories. His foundational work has helped us:

·                        - Reveal massive regulatory gaps that allow nursing home staff to abuse vulnerable residents;

·                        - Hold accountable charity executives who use heartbreaking pitches to solicit donations then spend the money on themselves;

·                        - Unearth a deeply flawed workplace injury insurance program that was actually paying out rebates to dangerous factories that kill workers;

·                        - Expose egregious profiting at public expense by doctors who overbill Ontario’ public health care system;

·                        - Reviewed details of nearly 1,000 murder cases involving Indigenous women to identify trends and help guide our reporters as they investigated why a decades-long scourge was being largely ignored by police.”

   “None of these stories could have been done if not for Andy, who is dogged yet patient, curious and creative but laser-focused, and has skills few others have and yet always find time to teach others in the newsroom.”

David Bruser

Editor of Investigations