3 min. read
Summary
- Narwhal reporter Leah Borts-Kuperman is one of three finalists in the investigative category at this year’s National Newspaper Awards.
- Borts-Kuperman’s journalism shone a light on environmental contamination issues at Canadian Armed Forces bases in 2025.
- The winners of the National Newspaper Awards will be announced in Toronto on April 24.
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A major investigation by The Narwhal’s newest staff reporter has earned her a nomination at the prestigious National Newspaper Awards.
Leah Borts-Kuperman, who wrote a series of stories about contamination on Canadian military sites for The Narwhal in 2025, is one of three finalists for the George Brown Award for Investigations, the National Newspaper Awards announced on March 20.
“The Narwhal was proud to publish Leah’s ambitious investigation,” managing editor Sharon J. Riley, who edited the stories, said. “And we’re even more proud of Leah now that her work has been recognized as some of the best in the country.”
Leah’s efforts to shine a light on contamination at Canadian Armed Forces bases started in 2024. She was following federal hearings of the Standing Committee on National Defence, and listened as former employees described health conditions they believed were the result of chemical contamination at their workplaces.
Leah knew this would be a challenging story to report, but she pitched the idea to The Narwhal anyway. What followed was almost a year of work. Leah parsed massive government databases, supported anxious sources to speak on the record, obtained government documents from confidential sources and tracked down experts to review the data she compiled.
The result was a deeply researched feature that foregrounded the experiences of Canadian Armed Forces members at CFB Moose Jaw as they fought for answers about their contaminated workplace.
One military employee told Leah she “took an oath that I would risk my life for what Canada stood for.” But she never expected that risk to take the form of carcinogenic contaminants in her office.
A few weeks after the first investigation was published, Leah wrote a follow-up article detailing the Canadian military’s plans to build housing on several of its bases that are known to be contaminated.
“Investigations such as Leah’s are labour-intensive,” Denise Balkissoon, executive editor of The Narwhal, said. “We’re grateful to The Narwhal’s 7,000-plus members, whose donations enable us to report complex stories with care, nuance and rigour.”
Leah wrote these stories as a freelancer. But she recently joined The Narwhal as our first-ever northern Ontario reporter, so you’ll be seeing her byline on The Narwhal a lot more going forward. She was only a few days into her new job when she learned of the nomination.
“I am grateful to the brave people who shared very personal stories to bring awareness to the issue of contamination on military bases,” Leah said. “And I’m determined and excited to tell many, many more important stories with The Narwhal now as a staff reporter.”
Leah is nominated for the award alongside two other finalists. Teams of journalists from Le Journal de Montréal and The Globe and Mail are also up for the prize. The winners of the National Newspaper Awards will be announced in Toronto on April 24.
The Narwhal is a non-profit news outlet that relies on readers to give whatever they can each month or year to make our reporting possible. This March, all new members will receive a Narwhal tote bag as thanks for their support.
