Video producer Manuel Baechlin’s first long-form video for The Narwhal breaks down what’s going on with carbon pricing in Canada.
Screenshot: Manuel Baechlin / The Narwhal
The Narwhal is expanding its reach on video platforms like YouTube and TikTok. First up? An explainer on the past, present and future of carbon pricing in Canada
Some days, I admit, I’m one of those young people who turns to video apps to find out what’s going on in the world — I scroll endlessly on TikTok and Instagram (I know, I know, forgive me), and go down YouTube rabbit holes to really understand something.
It’s been nearly three years since I joined The Narwhal, and my dream (or as other editors would say, bellyaching) of having videos become a part of our storytelling is finally a reality — thanks to Manuel Baechlin, the first-ever video producer to join our small but growing publication.
The tax wasn’t supposed to be this controversial. A few more cents a litre at the gas station — to get us to think more conscientiously about fossil fuels and change our behaviour — which most people would get back in rebates, anyway. (This, mind you, is the consumer carbon tax, not to be confused with the price for big polluters.)
Now, the consumer carbon tax has been disavowed by seemingly all Canadian politicians, with Liberal Leader Mark Carney already axing it in his role as prime minister. And that industrial price I just mentioned? Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wants to axe that one, too. It’s all a big mess and, with the federal election approaching, we wanted to break it all down.
“It was just so fun, learning about all these things in greater detail and then getting to share that with others,” Manuel told me.
“I spent a long time thinking about ways to diversify the visuals for this video,” he said. “During one of our team calls we all got treated to an amazing presentation with pictures of handwritten notes and I thought, ‘Okay, I love the tangible, crafty look.’ Lots of glue, coloured paper and bad handwriting later, the carbon pricing video suddenly had stop-motion components to replace some of the digital animation.”
P.S. As Manuel told me in this Q&A, “darn good journalism is a great ingredient for making darn good videos … and I love making darn good videos.” Is there a darn good Narwhal story you’d love to see broken down into video format? Send Manuel a note so his creative brain starts cooking something up!
Apply for our 2025 Indigenous editorial fellowship
To tell stories about Indigenous nations, we need to build capacity for Indigenous journalists in Canadian media — including Indigenous editors. That’s why this year, The Narwhal is hiring an Indigenous editorial fellow to work with and learn from our team of editors and reporters for the summer.
It’s a unique opportunity to dig into the fundamentals of fact-checking and editing while working on impactful stories from Indigenous communities — we’re pretty excited about it! Applications are open until April 25. For questions about the role, drop me a line!
— Michelle Cyca, senior editor
This week in The Narwhal
B.C. quietly allowed an oil and gas giant to sidestep rules for more than 4,300 pipelines By Matt Simmons & Zak Vescera
B.C.’s energy regulator has the power to grant exemptions — without notifying the public. Experts are raising the alarm about the process, saying the regulator is playing soft with fossil fuel companies that break rules.
The Anishinaabek youth bringing land-based learning to their peers By Leah Borts-Kuperman READ MORE
Poilievre vows to grant oil and gas industry’s entire wishlist By Carl Meyer READ MORE
Docs reveal how much BC Hydro power new LNG and mining projects want. Who will pay for it? By Shannon Waters READ MORE
‘I’m fiercely pro-fur’: Vogue’s Christian Allaire schools readers on Indigenous fashion By Denise Balkissoon READ MORE
What we’re reading
Greenland is rich in minerals, which is another reason why it’s been in the crossfire of Donald Trump’s colonization dreams, Matt Simon writes for Grist. The piece is part of its latest mining series, Unearthed, which you should also check out!
There’s an underwater haven with carbon sinks nestled away in the Indian Ocean. Its seagrass habitats are being decimated by a multinational fleet of fishing ships, Ian Urbina writes for The Globe and Mail — and it desperately needs regulations. (Paywalled)
That feeling when you’re just so excited to see The Narwhal on YouTube and TikTok, and you just can’t wait to tell everyone.
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.
Our stories have been raised in legislatures 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.”
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.
Our stories have been raised in legislatures 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.”
We’re fighting for our right to report — and your right to know. Stay in the loop about our trial against the RCMP and get a weekly dose of The Narwhal’s independent journalism
We’re fighting for our right to report — and your right to know. Stay in the loop about our trial against the RCMP and get a weekly dose of The Narwhal’s independent journalism
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