Cityline host Tracy Moore, former CTV National News senior anchor Lisa LaFlamme, TVA anchor Pierre Bruneau, and late Newfoundland producer Paul Pope are among this year’s special award recipients being recognized by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (the Canadian Academy).

Unveiled today, the Academy’s special awards are bestowed upon those in Canada’s screen-based industry who have made outstanding contributions to the industry and society as a whole. To be recognized during Canadian Screen Week, April 11-16, in Toronto, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine O’Hara, Simu Liu, Jennifer Podemski, and Peter MacNeill are also among this year’s honourees.

“It is truly inspiring to see such a powerful, diverse group of Special Award honourees who are a true representation of the amazing work that is being done by Canadians in film and television,” said Tammy Frick, CEO, Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, in a release. “From powerhouse performers to household names you trust and welcome into your homes each day, their impact stretches far beyond just our country’s borders and we are so proud they call Canada home.”

Tracy Moore, host of Citytv’s Cityline, is being honoured with the Changemaker Award, which recognizes those in the Canadian media community using their voice or platform to call out systemic racism and discrimination, amplifying the voices of those actively engaged in anti-racist work, and seeking structural transformations in media, film, and television in Canada that promote values of equity and inclusion. Moore’s commitment to diversity and inclusion includes hosting the Cityline Real on Race YouTube series and podcast and co-producing and co-hosting Citytv’s RTNDA award-winning race special Ending Racism: What Will it Take? She’s also an ambassador of the Trust 15 Youth Community Support Organization.

Lisa LaFlamme is being honoured with the Gordon Sinclair Award for Broadcast Journalism, recognizing a Canadian broadcast journalist for their exceptional body of work in broadcast journalism. LaFlamme is the recipient of 12 Canadian Screen Awards, numerous RTDNA awards, including a Lifetime Achievement honour, and was named to the Order of Canada in 2019. 

Pierre Bruneau is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, honouring a Canadian individual for an exceptional lifetime of work that has had a profound impact on the media industry at home or abroad. Over the course of his career, Bruneau anchored close to 40 municipal, provincial, and federal elections for TVA and hosted close to a dozen leaders’ debates. Highly regarded by the public, he has won the Artis Award for Best News Anchor 23 times and received a long list of honours for his contributions to the community, including the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002. 

Jennifer Podemski, known for her 30-year career as an actor, writer, director and producer, will receive this year’s Academy Board of Directors’ Tribute, honouring a Canadian individual for their extraordinary impact on the growth of the Canadian media industry. Her production company Redcloud Studios, has been at helm of television series including: The Seventh Generation, Rabbit Fall, The Other Side, Moccasin Flats, and Future History, and acclaimed feature film Empire of Dirt which was nominated for Best Picture at the Canadian Screen Awards. In 2020, she launched The Shine Network Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating Indigenous women in film and television.

Paul Pope is also being posthumously recognized with the Academy Board of Directors’ Tribute. A tireless advocate for the Newfoundland film and television industry, Pope was the producer behind numerous projects, including Citytv series Hudson & Rex and 2001 feature film, Rare Birds, under the banner of Pope Productions. 

Catherine O’Hara is this year’s Academy Icon Award winner. The Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, Critic’s Choice, and multiple Canadian Screen Award- winning actress, writer and comedian’s credits include lead and supporting roles in Schitt’s Creek, Beetlejuice, Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, After Hours, Heartburn, The Life Before This, Penelope, Away We Go, Where the Wild Things Are, A.C.O.D., The Right Kind of Wrong, and Nightmare Before Christmas.

Peter MacNeill, a veteran of Canadian film and television, is being recognized with the Earle Grey Award, presented by eOne, awarded to a Canadian performer for their exceptional body of acting work. MacNeill’s credits include Thom Fitzgerald’s The Hanging Garden, for which he won the 1997 Genie Award for Best Supporting Actor; HBO Canada series Call Me Fitz, alongside Jason Priestley (for which he was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor, Comedy); and his current role as Ken Finley-Cullen in eOne/CBC series Moonshine. 

Ryan Reynolds will receive the Humanitarian Award, which recognizes an extraordinary humanitarian contribution or act of compassion by a professional working in the Canadian media industry in the prior year. Beyond his work as an actor and producer, Reynolds’ dedication to philanthropy, includes supporting Canadian NGO Water First Education and Training Inc., the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in an effort to support displaced families from Ukraine, as well as his annual “aesthetically challenged” sweater holiday campaign that helps raise money for The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). He’s also co-founded two organizations aimed at offering underrepresented communities more access to creative careers: Group Effort Initiative (GEI) and Creative Ladder. 

Simu Liu is receiving this year’s Radius Award, presented by MADE | NOUS, recognizing a Canadian whose work is making waves globally. Liu made history as the star of the first Asian-fronted movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Destin Daniel Cretton’s Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings. He also starred in CBC comedy series, Kim’s Convenience, for five seasons, the winner of Best Comedy Series at the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards.

Nominations for the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards will be announced on Wednesday, Feb. 22.

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