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The Narwhal snags 6 nominations for national journalism awards

Investigations, photojournalism and other reporting from 2023 are being recognized by the Canadian Association of Journalists

By Mike De Souza

April 16, 2024 3 min. read

This article is more than 6 months old

The Narwhal has earned six nominations for national awards from the Canadian Association of Journalists.

“We are so honoured to see the tireless work of our nonprofit newsroom recognized alongside the best journalism in Canada,” The Narwhal’s editor-in-chief Emma Gilchrist said. “Impactful journalism takes time and resources, and wouldn’t be possible without the contributions of more than 6,000 members who support The Narwhal.”

Here’s a rundown of our team’s nominations.

Written news

The Narwhal’s Ontario reporter Emma McIntosh was nominated as part of a team that included Noor Javed, Sheila Wang and Charlie Pinkerton from the Toronto Star for groundbreaking reporting on the Greenbelt scandal in Ontario.

The year of the Greenbelt: how Doug Ford’s bid to build housing on protected land backfired

Online media

The Narwhal’s climate investigations reporter, Carl Meyer, is a finalist in this category for his in-depth reporting on the Pathways Alliance of oilsands companies. Journalists from Radio-Canada, Ricochet Media and The Independent were also nominated in this category.

Photojournalism

Freelance photojournalist Katherine Cheng earned a nomination for the images she captured as part of an on-the-ground feature about Ontario’s experimental lakes area. Photojournalists and Narwhal contributors Amber Bracken and Jesse Winter were also nominated in this category for their work, alongside Martin Tremblay of La Presse.

Aerial view of the Institute for International Sustainable Development Experimental Lakes Area in northwestern Ontario, known as the world's largest outdoor experimental freshwater research facility of its kind. — The Institute for International Sustainable Development experimental lakes area is a collection of 58 small lakes in northwestern Ontario. The data and research produced here is in demand by scientists around the world concerned about threats to fresh water. Photo: Katherine Cheng / The Narwhal

Freedom of information journalism

The Narwhal’s northwestern B.C. reporter, Matt Simmons, earned a nomination in this specialized category for his reporting on the Coastal GasLink pipeline and related environmental infractions.

Human rights reporting

Alberta/Saskatchewan reporter, Drew Anderson, and freelancer Amber Bracken were nominated for their reporting on First Nations communities in northern Alberta affected by a leak at Imperial Oil’s Kearl oilsands mine. Others nominated in this category include APTN Investigates, L’actualité, the Toronto Star and Zan Times.

Woman sits in kitchen with moose head on table — Amber Bracken and Drew Anderson travelled to the area around Fort Chipewyan, Alta., last winter to speak to residents concerned about the impacts of a leak at an oilsands site upstream of the community. Photo: Amber Bracken / The Narwhal

Environmental and climate change reporting

The Narwhal and Winnipeg Free Press environment reporter, Julia-Simone Rutgers, earned a nomination for her reporting on the absence of building standards to ensure tenants in Winnipeg can cope with extreme heat. Journalists from the CBC, Ricochet, Le Devoir and the Toronto Star were also nominated in this category.

In Canada’s coldest city, homes were built for warmth. Now they’re way, way too hot

Data journalism

Narwhal journalist Francesca Fionda was nominated in the data journalism category for reporting published by The Tyee on the absence of provincial support for disasters. Also nominated in this category are journalists from Global News, the Toronto Star, the Investigative Journalism Bureau and Radio-Canada.

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

Mike De Souza

Mike De Souza is an award-winning investigative journalist, specializing in covering environmental issues and the energy industry....

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