Our News Team
You can count on the APTN News team to bring you more comprehensive coverage of the stories that matter to you.
Reporters / Video Journalists
Angel Moore
Video Journalist | Halifax
Angel Moore is a proud Cree from the Peguis First Nation in Manitoba. Angel grew up in Winnipeg and has a Journalism degree from the University of King’s College. She also has a degree from Dalhousie University in International Development Studies and Environmental Sustainability. Angel joined APTN News in June 2018 as the correspondent in the Halifax bureau and covers Atlantic Canada.
[email protected] | Twitter: @angelharksen
Annette Francis
Reporter | Ottawa
Annette is Anishinaabe from Alderville First Nation. She started at APTN as an Ottawa Correspondent in 2007 and has covered Indigenous issues from Parliament Hill and First Nation communities across Ontario. She has also freelanced for CBC Indigenous and Ricochet Media.
Cierra Bettens
Reporter | Winnipeg
Cierra is a Red River Métis reporter based in Winnipeg. She got her start in journalism working as a city reporter and arts and culture editor at the Uniter and later interned at the Winnipeg Free Press. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Winnipeg.
Charlotte Morritt-Jacobs
Video Journalist | Yellowknife
Charlotte joined APTN in January 2017 as a video journalist in Yellowknife, N.W.T.. Before coming to APTN she interned at CTV Lethbridge, earned her BA in feminist research from Western University and her obtained post-graduate in journalism at Humber College.
[email protected] | Twitter: @aptncharlotte
Chris Stewart
Video Journalist | Edmonton
Chris Stewart has been in the media for 20 years. He has worked at CBC, Global and CTV as a news camera operator and editor. Chris joined APTN in 2012 in the Saskatoon Bureau and moved to APTN Edmonton bureau in 2015 as a Videojournalist.
[email protected] | Twitter: @aptnchris
Fraser Needham
Reporter | Ottawa
Fraser spent the last 20 years working in both print and radio in Saskatchewan – mostly in the northern part of the province. Before joining APTN’s Ottawa bureau, he was news director for the Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation working out of their Prince Albert office. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Carleton University and a diploma of journalism from Algonquin College.
Kijâtai-Alexandra Veillette-Cheezo
Reporter | Montreal
Kijâtai is a member of the Anishnabe Nation and their family comes from the Lac Simon community. For the last 15 years, Kijâtai directed a few prized short films and performed in theatre. Their involvement in the city’s indigenous and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities allows them to work towards elevating voices that are often underrepresented. They are currently completing their degree in communications (journalism) at UQAM.
Mike McDonald
Video Journalist | Sault Ste. Marie
Mike is a video-journalist based in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. For more than three years Mike has been a journalist for CTV News. He also has extensive experience working in several radio stations in southern Ontario including a stint with The Canadian Press.
Rachel May
Video Journalist | Saskatoon
Rachel is Métis from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. After gaining her Bachelors of Arts in Psychology in 2014 and working in health care she went back to school in 2021 at Western Academy Broadcasting College to pursue her passion for news. Before joining APTN she worked at Pattison Media Saskatchewan as the provincial news anchor. Rachel joined APTN in 2023 and is now a video journalist in Saskatoon.
Sara Connors
Reporter | Whitehorse
Sara Connors is originally from Nova Scotia and has a Journalism degree from the University of King’s College in Halifax. After graduation she worked in South Korea for two years as an English Language teacher and freelance journalist. After she returned home in 2019 she worked behind the scenes at CTV Atlantic in Halifax before joining APTN's Yukon bureau in July 2020.
[email protected] | Twitter: @saraconnorsaptn
Sav Jonsa
Reporter | Winnipeg
Sav Jonsa is a proud Two-Spirit Michif with familial roots in the Parisien family of St. Norbert, Winnipeg as well as English on their mother's side. They are Hungarian on their father's side. They attended the University of Winnipeg for writing and film. An avid writer since childhood, they began reporting news in 2022 through an internship with APTN. Sav is now a full time reporter and an occasional host on the APTN National News.
Savanna Craig
Reporter | Montréal
Savanna has spent the last eight years reporting on policing, human rights violations, the silencing of the pro-Palestine movement and protests surrounding violence in the Middle East. She grew up in Toronto and began her career in Montreal reporting on Indigenous-led Energy East pipeline protests. Before joining APTN she was a freelance journalist for TRT World, Middle East Eye and The Breach.
Tiar Wheatle
Reporter | Winnipeg
Tiar was born and raised on the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in northern Manitoba. Tiar has also worked for CBC Winnipeg, The Fifth Estate and CBC Indigenous Unit where she was one of the main researchers on a multimedia interactive database about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Tiar also worked for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Tiar is back at APTN News after a decade away.
Tina House
Video Journalist | Vancouver
A proud Métis from BC, Tina began her television career in 1997 as a talent agent for film and TV. She joined APTN National News in 2007 as a Video Journalist in the Vancouver bureau. In 2010, she was the recipient of the Amnesty International Human Rights Journalism Award for her story on murdered and missing women and girls.
[email protected] | Twitter: @inthehouse7
Anchors
Kim Sullivan
Host-Reporter | Montréal
Kim began her career as a teacher for the deaf but quickly discovered her true calling in broadcasting. After 12 years in radio, hosting community television shows on a variety of topics - from checking off bucket list items to supporting local organizations – Kim spent eight years with Global News Montreal as a weather specialist and community reporter. Growing up with a father of Irish ancestry and a mother of Indigenous heritage (Nunatsiavut), Kim takes pride in connecting with her roots through the vibrant communities of Montreal and is excited to lend her voice to APTN.
Creeson Agecoutay
Host-Producer | Winnipeg
Creeson is Nehiyaw/Plains Cree from Cowessess First Nation in Treaty 4 Territory. For more than 16 years, he has been a host, local and national reporter in Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. Manitoba is now home for him working as a host/producer for APTN National News in Winnipeg. Creeson holds a degree in journalism from the University of Regina and has won numerous journalism awards, including for a number of stories he did on the impacts of unmarked residential school graves in his home of Cowessess in 2021.
Dennis Ward
Host-Producer | Winnipeg
Dennis is Métis from southern Manitoba. After spending a decade working in TV in Alberta and Ontario, Dennis returned to Manitoba to join APTN. In 2016, he won a Canadian Association of Journalists award for his story A Soldier Scorned for APTN Investigates. In 2017, he became a host/producer for APTN National News and Face to Face.
[email protected] | Twitter: @DennisWardNews
Research and Online
Leanne Sanders
Reporter | Lloydminster, Alta
Leanne has a certificate in broadcasting and has more than 12 years of radio news experience, both as an anchor and reporter in Saskatchewan and Alberta. The Métis journalist is a passionate writer and born storyteller and loves to connect with people and learn about their life experiences.
Kathleen Martens
Online Journalist | Winnipeg
Award-winning reporter Kathleen Martens covers western and northern Canada for aptnnews.ca. A veteran of the Brandon Sun, Sun Media and APTN Investigates, she is based in APTN’s head office, specializing in stories about property, women’s rights and community.
Jesse Andrushko
Digital Media Editor | Winnipeg
Jesse is Métis from rural Manitoba. He graduated with honours in multimedia communications from the Université de Saint-Boniface. After his internship through Journalists for Human Rights, Jesse was hired as a full-time Social Media Editor for APTN National News in 2016.
[email protected] | Twitter: @jesse_andrushko
Savannah Kelly
Digital Media Editor | Winnipeg
Savannah is a Red River Métis from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She was one of the first recipients of the APTN National Scholarship in 2016 and graduated from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 2017. Savannah joined the APTN National News team as a Social Media Editor in September 2020.
[email protected] | Twitter: @SavannahRKelly
Producers
Charmaine Straker
Executive Producer Show | Winnipeg
Charmaine Straker, executive producer at APTN News, comes from Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba and is a member of the Berens River First Nation. Her broadcasting career, sparked at Yellowquill College's Aboriginal Broadcast Training Initiative, began at Global Winnipeg. After various roles within APTN and a stint at CTV Winnipeg, Charmaine returned to APTN in 2012 rising to executive leadership. Her dedication to Indigenous storytelling, along with her involvement in soccer, showcasing her leadership and teamwork skills, have been pivotal in her professional growth.
Bruce Spence
Producer | Winnipeg
Bruce has been a member of the APTN News team since its inception in February 2000. A member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation, he has over 30 years experience as a journalist.
[email protected] | Twitter: @NDNCarguy
Jesse Staniforth
Producer | Montreal
Jesse joined APTN as a producer after 16 years as a print and web journalist. During seven of those years, he covered the Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee for community newsmagazine The Nation. Jesse’s writing on Indigenous issues has also appeared in Canadian Geographic, the Toronto Star, the Rover, The Eastern Door, Metro, and the Huffington Post.
Mark Blackburn
Online News and Digital Media Producer | Ottawa
Before moving to become the APTN News social media producer, Mark was the executive producer for the news in eastern Canada. Before starting with APTN in 2009, Mark worked at CBC Radio and Television in Newfoundland and Labrador and Ottawa.
[email protected] | Twitter: @MBlackburn21
Sandra Seidel
Line-Up Producer | Winnipeg
Sandra is of Cree and German ancestry and a member of the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation in northern Manitoba. She grew up in the city of Winnipeg and joined APTN in 2000. Sandra was the associate director for many years before securing the position of line-up producer for news through mentorship and training.
Todd Lamirande
Executive Producer | Ottawa
Todd Lamirande is Red River Métis. Todd first joined APTN in 2000 as a writer - researcher. He went on to be a videojournalist based in Vancouver. Todd has hosted three programs for APTN News and Current Affairs: the national news, Investigates and Nation to Nation.
[email protected] | Twitter: @ToddLamirande
Director
Cheryl McKenzie
Executive Director of News and Current Affairs | Winnipeg
Cheryl McKenzie began working as a reporter for APTN in June 2001. Her work has been nominated for a Gemini Award and a Canadian Association of Broadcasters award. In October 2005 Cheryl became Host/Producer for the launch of APTN National News: Daytime. Since then she has been Host/Producer for Contact, APTN Investigates, APTN National News and APTN InFocus.
[email protected] | Twitter: @CMc_Kenzie