As The Ottawa Citizen’s lead climate policy analyst, Tom Spears specializes in investigating gaps between environmental commitments and measurable action. His 20+ years of investigative reporting have established him as Canada’s foremost auditor of ecological governance.
We’ve followed Tom Spears’s work at The Ottawa Citizen for over a decade, observing his evolution into one of Canada’s most persistent voices holding institutions accountable for climate inaction. His reporting combines forensic analysis of public records with a boots-on-the-ground approach to environmental storytelling.
Spears cut his teeth at regional papers like the Peterborough Examiner and Ottawa Journal before joining The Toronto Star’s investigative team in the late 1990s. His 2005 move to The Ottawa Citizen marked a turning point, coinciding with Canada’s ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Over 15+ years at the Citizen, he’s built a beat dissecting the gap between environmental rhetoric and policy implementation.
This November 2024 op-ed exemplifies Spears’ methodology. Through Access to Information requests, he obtained internal Environment Canada projections showing officials continued using outdated climate models despite knowing their inadequacy. The piece contrasts bureaucratic complacency with frontline impacts, citing thawing permafrost in Nunavut and failing salmon spawning grounds in BC. What elevates this beyond typical accountability reporting is Spears’ structural analysis - he traces how department silos and electoral cycles create systemic optimism bias.
At first glance, this 2023 housing policy piece seems outside Spears’ usual scope. But his lens remains distinctly ecological. He analyzes the carbon footprint of official residences, juxtaposing maintenance costs of 24 Sussex Drive against energy-efficient alternatives. The article’s power lies in reframing political debates through sustainability metrics, asking not just "Where?" but "How sustainably?"
This 2025 data investigation tracks Canada’s 43-year pattern of failed emissions pledges. Spears employs temporal layering - comparing 1980s oil sands projections to current production levels, then mapping both against Indigenous land use protests. His conclusion challenges conventional wisdom: "We’re not failing despite our systems, but because of them."
Spears prioritizes stories exposing disconnects between environmental commitments and actionable results. A successful pitch might detail how municipal tree-planting initiatives fail to account for urban heat island effects. His 2024 analysis of Ottawa’s "Million Trees Campaign" revealed 62% sapling mortality due to poor species selection - exactly the type of follow-through scrutiny he champions.
While he rarely covers international summits, Spears welcomes local angles on agreements like COP29. Pitch stories showing how UN climate resolutions translate (or don’t) to Canadian watershed management or agricultural subsidies. His 2023 piece on Alberta’s carbon tariff loopholes exemplifies this approach.
Spears’ best work relies on documentary evidence - budget allocations, meeting minutes, impact assessments. PR professionals should provide annotated Freedom of Information requests or leaked drafts showing policy dilution. His landmark 2022 exposé on watered-down clean fuel standards began with a tip about revised regulatory language.
While Spears maintains a low public profile, industry peers have recognized his contributions:
At PressContact, we aim to help you discover the most relevant journalists for your PR efforts. If you're looking to pitch to more journalists who write on Climate, here are some other real estate journalist profiles you may find relevant:
