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DeSmog Canada Named as Finalist for Canadian Online Publishing Award

By Emma Gilchrist

Nov. 26, 2015 2 min. read

This article is more than 9 years old

DeSmog Canada has been named as a finalist for “Best News Coverage” by the Canadian Online Publishing Awards.

The awards recognize the best of the country’s online publishing and are judged by a panel of experts from Canada and the U.S.

The other finalists in the “Best News Coverage” category are The Globe and Mail, CBC News, Macleans Magazine and The Huffington Post Canada.

DeSmog Canada submitted three stories for consideration for the award.

I Went to the Mount Polley Mine Spill Site by Carol Linnitt is a first-hand photo essay of the aftermath of the Mount Polley tailings pond disaster in August 2014.

Field of Dreams: Peace Valley Farmers, Ranchers Fight to Keep Land Above Water As Site C Dam Decision Looms by Emma Gilchrist profiles those who stand to lose the most from the construction of the most expensive public project in B.C. history: the Site C dam.

Companies Illegally Dumped Toxic Fracking Chemicals in Dawson Creek Water Treatment Systems At Least Twice, Officials Report by Linnitt rounded out the submission. In that article, Linnitt tells the story of companies thwarting fracking waste disposal laws.

At an awards ceremony last week in Toronto, The Globe and Mail took the gold prize for its coverage of the deadly attack on Ottawa last year. Maclean’s Magazine was awarded the silver prize for its coverage of the same event.

For our part at DeSmog Canada, we are beyond thrilled to be recognized alongside such heavy hitters in the news industry. As a small, non-profit news outlet, sometimes we feel like a small fish in a big pond. This recognition goes to show that when people come together and support independent media, big things can happen — thank you!

By the end of the year we need to raise $20,000 to continue our ground-breaking energy and environment reporting. Please donate what you can today.

Another year of keeping a close watch

Here at The Narwhal, we don’t use profit, awards or pageviews to measure success. The thing that matters most is real-world impact — evidence that our reporting influenced citizens to hold power to account and pushed policymakers to do better.

And in 2024, our stories were raised in parliaments across the country and cited by citizens in their petitions and letters to politicians.

In Alberta, our reporting revealed Premier Danielle Smith made false statements about the controversial renewables pause. In Manitoba, we proved that officials failed to formally inspect a leaky pipeline for years. And our investigations on a leaked recording of TC Energy executives were called “the most important Canadian political story of the year.”

As the year draws to a close, we’d like to thank you for paying attention. And if you’re able to donate anything at all to help us keep doing this work in 2025 — which will bring a whole lot we can’t predict — thank you so very much.

Will you help us hold the powerful accountable in the year to come by giving what you can today?

Yes, I’ll support independent journalism

Another year of keeping a close watch

I’ll support independent journalism

Published By

Emma Gilchrist

Emma Gilchrist is a reporter, editor, public speaker and spreadsheet-keeper. She started her journalism career more than 15 years ...

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