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Welcome to The Narwhal

Canadians are hungrier than ever for journalism that looks beneath the surface and holds power to account

By Emma Gilchrist

May 14, 2018 4 min. read

This article is more than 6 years old

When I started reporting on the environment for the Calgary Herald back in 2007, it was hard to imagine the way Canada’s media landscape would be transformed in the next decade.

Between 2010 and 2016, 225 weekly and 27 daily newspapers closed in Canada. But even before this latest downward spiral, Canadian journalism was in trouble.

Take this quote:

Some newspapers dig.
Some newspapers are a constant embarrassment to the powerful.
Some manage to be entertaining, provocative, and fair at the same time.
There are a few such newspapers in Canada.

That’s from a report written nearly 50 years ago by the Special Senate Committee on Mass Media.

Fast-forward to today and Canadians are hungrier than ever for journalism that looks beneath the surface and holds power to account.

We have been so honoured to grow a loyal audience for this type of journalism through DeSmog Canada over the past five years.

Back in 2013, we started out with just one full-time reporter/editor. Never did we imagine that we’d become one of the most-read independent news websites in Canada.

If you’d told us back then that we’d make a video that would be viewed by nearly two million people, we probably wouldn’t have believed you. If you’d have told us then that our in-depth journalism would be cited in the New York Times, we’d have choked on our tea. And if you’d have told us then that hundreds of Canadians would donate each month to support our journalism, we’d have blushed and accused you of wishful thinking.

You, our readers, have expanded our horizons of what is possible. And for that, we are grateful beyond words.

We are also incredibly grateful to the DeSmog network for incubating us and for providing mentorship, web infrastructure and name recognition as we stepped into the independent media world.

Our new name is about serving even more Canadians with independent environmental journalism at this crucial time in history. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with journalists at DeSmog around the world.

Why The Narwhal?

Choosing a new name is never easy, but we knew our new moniker needed to tap into the sense of awe and wonder Canadians feel for the vast landscape we share.

Narwhals have intrigued explorers and scientists for hundreds of years. Just a few years ago, scientists discovered the narwhal’s tusk is actually highly sensitive like an antenna (not a bad tool for an investigative journalist, eh?).

We could share fun narwhal facts until the cows come home, but for now, we’ll just share these three:

About three-quarters of the world’s narwhals call Canada’s Arctic home each summer.
Narwhals — often called the unicorns of the sea — depend on sea ice, which is threatened by rapid climate change.
Narwhals have one of the deepest dives of any marine mammal and can dive up to 1.5 kilometres deep.

We can’t think of a better icon for a team of Canadian investigative journalists.

Our new website

You’ll notice several improvements on our new website based on your feedback. First and foremost, we wanted to make it easier for you to find all of our coverage on a given topic.

We also wanted to improve the mobile reading experience, since we know so many of you read our stories on your phones.

As with any big change, there are sure to be some kinks. We’d love to hear from you if you have any feedback on our new site (good or bad). Please e-mail us your thoughts at editor@thenarwhal.ca. We look forward to hearing from you!

The future is bright

We are incredibly excited about what the future holds for independent journalism in Canada.

Canadians are tired of the same old battles in the news, of politics that divide, rather than unite.

Our readers have proven time and time again that they’re willing to pay for high-quality, public interest journalism. If you’d like to support our journalism, be one of the first to Become a Narwhal today (pssst … it’s the only way to get your hands on one of our new t-shirts).

In the meantime, please take a look around the site, sign up for our newsletter and share with your friends.

We are so thankful for all you have done to make this next phase possible and we can’t wait to serve even more Canadians.

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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