Leah Borts-Kuperman is no stranger to The Narwhal. Since 2023, she’s contributed more than 20 articles to the publication as a freelancer, covering everything from industrial contamination to grassroots ecological stewardship initiatives.

Reporting from her home in North Bay, Ont., Leah has a knack for sniffing out important environmental stories that are flying under the radar. Starting in 2023, she dove deep to bring Narwhal readers sustained coverage of a controversial plastics factory that had North Bay residents concerned for their environment and their health. More recently, her coverage of legacy contamination at Canadian military sites was nominated for several prestigious journalism awards — winning investigative gold at the Canadian Online Publishing Awards.

Now, after years of freelancing, Leah has joined The Narwhal as a staff reporter. She’ll be focusing her coverage on Ontario’s near north region — from North Bay to Timmins and everything in between. She says she’s excited to “bring audiences to rare and special pockets” of the region she calls home, and to connect policy decisions made at Queen’s Park in Toronto to environmental and health impacts in smaller towns and cities a few hours north.

“We can learn a lot about the biggest issues facing the province by holding a magnifying glass to the near north,” she says.

Read on to learn more about Leah — and how her passion for journalism was kindled by moonlighting as an arts critic reviewing a horror musical.

How did you first get into journalism?

When I was doing my undergrad at University of Toronto, a friend of mine caught a bad cold. In her place, she asked me to review a production of the horror musical Carrie for the campus paper, The Varsity.

I remember being so nervous, but I went. I loved the whole process of researching, writing and then working to capture the details of an event accurately. The rest is history; I pretty much never stopped reporting, though it all started with arts and culture stories.

From there, I got my master of arts in journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University and quickly discovered my passion for environmental and investigative reporting.

You’ve written for all sorts of publications — The Local, The Walrus, Canadian Geographic and more (including your freelance work for us!). What’s the article you’re most proud of over the years?

I’m not just saying this because I’m on staff now, but the article I’m most proud of is the investigation I conducted as a Narwhal freelancer into contamination on military bases, starting with CFB Moose Jaw in Saskatchewan. I spent months speaking with veterans and staff who were falling ill, and who were worried about contamination at their workplace.

Bringing together government databases, public parliamentary hearings, extremely personal testimonies and expert opinions, I revealed contamination on bases across Canada.

Stories about legacy contamination are always tricky. They take a lot of time and work, and I feel so proud of the series we ended up publishing, and the impact the stories had on the people affected. 

This was made possible with the hard work of my editors Denise Balkissoon and Sharon J. Riley, and the incredible photographer Amber Bracken. It made me realize how far I could take a big, ambitious investigation with the right team.

What kind of stories make an impact on you as a reader?

I love a longread that I can really settle into, especially one that’s unexpected and changes my mind about something. I love reading stories that are very grounded in a particular landscape and setting that I can get to know along with the characters — the kind where you feel like you went somewhere for a little while.

I’m also an avid fiction reader; sci-fi, fantasy and weird literature are my escape!

You moved from Toronto to North Bay a few years ago. What has that transition been like and what do you like best about your new home?

It’s been a big difference living in North Bay, mostly getting used to the northern Ontario winters and the snowbanks that tower above my head. The sight of a sunset over a frozen Lake Nipissing is always breathtaking.

There’s a lot to love here. For me, the things that stand out are gorgeous trails, lakes and a unique community I’ve felt lucky to spend time in. Spring in North Bay also offers more lilac blossoms than I’ve ever seen, which is pretty great.

Your beat at The Narwhal will be Ontario’s near north — a region that encompasses cities such as Timmins and Sudbury, small towns like Wawa and natural areas such as Killarney Provincial Park. What stories are you excited to dig into?

Some of my favourite stories I’ve covered for The Narwhal about the region allowed me to bring audiences to rare and special pockets of the near north, for example a bat tagging night at Shawanaga First Nation — we were out there for most of the night swatting away mosquitos and finding, catching and tagging bats to help protect several endangered species. In 2024, I also dug into snowmobiling culture and how it’s changing with the climate, reporting from the back of a Ski-Doo.

It’s these kinds of stories I’m most excited to keep telling. It’s easy to get caught up in the urgent bad news all around us, but these stories feel hopeful and human.

At the same time, we’re contending with a long legacy of environmental issues including corporate and government pollution and heavy industry, paired with news poverty. The lack of transparency in North Bay is infamous — shoutout to the 2020 Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government Secrecy that the Canadian Association of Journalists awarded to the City of North Bay.

So far, communities have really responded to those stories where I was able to hold power to account and shed a light on stories that would otherwise have passed under the radar. I’m excited to continue to tell those hard-hitting stories, too.

What do Ontarians in the rest of the province get wrong about the near north region?

It’s easy to think of North Bay, Timmins, Sudbury, etc., as very far away with very different problems than the south of the province. But, really, the “Gateway to the North” is only a few hours away, and feels the ramifications of decisions made in Queen’s Park on its species, landscapes and industry acutely. We can learn a lot about the biggest issues facing the province by holding a magnifying glass to the near north.

How has the transition from freelancer to staff been so far?

It’s been amazing to join a team I’ve long admired, and have been able to work for years as a freelancer. I got to tell stories about everything from corporate pollution, emissions regulations and mining — to wild rice harvests, invasive mushrooms and hydroponic greenhouses. I’m excited for lots more of that! And, of course, spending time with the talented reporters, photographers and editors at The Narwhal has been so inspiring.

How do you spend your free time?

I spend most of my free time walking my two lovely mutts (the three-legged one is surprisingly fast), reading or at a yoga class. Now that the final frost has likely passed, you will also find me in the garden obsessing over flowers and tomato plants.

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