Share
Unifor is proud to announce that Tanya Talaga, Indigenous journalist, author, and Unifor member, has been awarded the 2025 Neil Reimer Award for her impactful stories of Indigenous experiences in Canada.
“As a media union committed to truth and reconciliation, and solidarity with Indigenous communities across Canada, we are thrilled for the opportunity to acknowledge Tanya’s incredible work, and the ongoing importance of journalism and storytelling in promoting social justice,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne.
“Tanya is a force of nature–an artist, an advocate, an author, and a historian–documenting Indigenous stories that would otherwise be hidden. Her work centres and amplifies Indigenous voices, communities, victories and struggles, simultaneously educating, inspiring, and fostering understanding.”
The Neil Reimer Award, named after the renowned Canadian trade union leader and political activist, is presented to a prominent Canadian to recognize and honour their work and contributions to social justice.
Talaga is Anishinaabe-Polish and a member of the Fort William First Nation.
Working as a journalist with the Toronto Star for more than 20 years, Talaga covered a range of topics including health, education, and Indigenous affairs, and now works as a columnist with the Globe and Mail.
“When I received the letter, I was going to receive this award, I was shocked and stunned and as a journalist, I wanted to know who Neil Reimer was and learned he wanted workers’ rights in oil fields in Alberta and he wanted safe conditions,” said Talaga at Unifor’s Constitutional Convention in Vancouver.
“I thought, what are my similarities to Neil? We have one really big thing in common: We want to make the world a better place. We see wrong, we see where things need to change, and you have to stand up and try and make things better.”
She has received several honours for her investigative journalism, including five nominations for the Michener Award in public service journalism and contributions to projects that won two National Newspaper Awards for Project of the Year.
Talaga also is the bestselling publisher of Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City, examining the deaths of seven Indigenous students in Thunder Bay, Ont.
The book received several awards, including the RBC Taylor Prize and the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. Her follow-up book, All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward, focuses on areas of Indigenous resilience and the ongoing impacts of colonization.
Last year, Talaga released The Knowing, a documentary series that delves into her family's history and the broader legacy of residential schools in Canada. She also directed the documentary, Spirit to Soar, which continues the narrative from Seven Fallen Feathers and explores the ongoing effects of systemic racism on Indigenous communities.
At the podium, Talaga announced she was going to donate the proceeds of the Neil Reimer Award to her Spirit to Soar charity, which helps First Nations children in Thunder Bay, Ont. and helps fund a local art collective, run by First Nations youth, to make drums, paint, language exercises and connect them to elders.
“For three days, we hold ceremony, we talk our language and try to put our spirits back together again,” said Talaga. “Thank you, Unifor, for wanting what we want – a better future for all of our children and for helping us get there.”
Talaga leads Makwa Creative, a production company borne from her vision of telling Indigenous stories.
Talaga has been recognized with honorary doctorates from academic institutions such as Lakehead University and Toronto Metropolitan University for her contributions to Indigenous advocacy.
The previous Neil Reimer award, presented in 2022, went to Mozart Mimms, a Black sleeping car porter, trade union leader and activist.
