The Canadian Academy is honouring the people in Canadian media who have made a difference.
On Monday, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television announced the recipients of this year’s Special Award honourees at the upcoming Canadian Screen Award ceremony.
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The eight honourees this year include the recipients of the inaugural Changemaker Award, “which recognizes and honours those in the Canadian media community who are using their voice or platform to call out systemic racism and discrimination, supporting and amplifying the voices of those who are actively engaged in anti-racist work, and seeking structural transformations in media organizations in Canada that promote values of equity and inclusion.”
Receiving the Changemaker Award this year are TSN’s “The Shift” host Kayla Grey, journalist Kathleen Newman-Bremang and playwright, columnist, and TV & radio host Amanda Parris.
“We are thrilled to present this year’s Special Awards to eight recipients who have had a profound and lasting impact on the Canadian media landscape with their work,” said John Young, chair, Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. “We are also pleased to introduce the Changemaker Award, a signal of the Canadian Academy’s continued commitment to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion, and to bestow the very first iteration on three women who have stood up for change in the face of adversity. We look forward to celebrating these prestigious honourees during Canadian Screen Week 2022.”
Canadian actress and Netflix’s “Never Have I Ever” star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, who was recently featured in Time‘s 2021 TIME100 Next list, will be honoured with the Radius Award, presented by MADE | NOUS, for making waves globally with her work.
Iconic hockey announcer and Hockey Hall of Famer Bob Cole will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for his incredible career going back to his early days on radio in 1954, to calling games on “Hockey Night in Canada”.
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For her exceptional body of work in broadcast journalism, the Gordon Sinclair Award For Broadcast Journalism will be presented to Inuk media personality Rassi Nashalik, who pioneered hosted CBC North’s Igalaaq, an Inuktitut daily television newscast for audiences primarily in northern Canada.
Finally, for their extraordinary impact on the growth of the Canadian media industry, the Academy Board of Directors’ Tribute Award is presented to Vince Commisso and John Galway.
The Special Awards will be presented during Canadian Screen Week, taking place this year from April 4 to April 10.
Nominations for the 2022 Canadian Screen Awards will be announced Feb. 15.
