Tom Fennario, a senior video journalist with APTN News’ investigative unit, has been awarded this year’s $25,000 R. James Travers Foreign Corresponding Fellowship. He will research the larger role that First Nations and Métis in Canada could play in mitigating severe wildfires. 

When his  resulting video documentary is completed in the fall of 2026, APTN will air his work and will also post it on the APTN News website and YouTube page along with a series of Fennario’s web articles. 

See the news release from Carleton University, which administers the endowed Fellowship fund.

The Story

The pictures are startling, but familiar: A dashcam video of a convoy racing down a highway with walls of fire on either side. A landscape photo of a city choking on smoke that obscures the skyline.  A drone shot of charred houses in what was once a neighbourhood.

These are some of the searing images of major wildfires in Canada, now so common that journalists have developed a kind of visual shorthand to cover them. 

There are often follow-ups and mentions of how climate change is making the fires worse. But not a lot of digital ink is spilled when about how to mitigate the increasingly destructive wildfires, or what Canada may learn from First Nations in other countries.

As Fennario notes, some experts say creating more roles in forest management for Indigenous peoples worldwide makes sense because they are more likely to live in areas prone to catch fire. 

The Journalist

Born and raised in Montreal, Tom Fennario cut his teeth working in community television in Kahnawà:ke Mohawk Territory before joining APTN National News as a cameraman/editor in 2008. In 2015 he was promoted to the position of Video Journalist. His subsequent work was nominated for two Canadian Association of Journalists awards. In 2023 he joined the APTN News Investigates team and has since been nominated for a Canadian Screen award. He was recently the co-recipient of the Amnesty International Canada Media Award for best Long Form Video.