Candy Palmater
| Candy Palmater | |
|---|---|
 Candy Palmater | |
| Born |
1968 Point La Nim, New Brunswick |
| Medium | Stand-up, television |
| Website | thecandyshow.com |
Candy Palmater is a Canadian comedian,[1] international speaker and the educator of aboriginal perceptions training about the Mi'kmaq people. She is active in Native rights and gay rights, and is now the creator and writer of her own national TV show for APTN, The Candy Show. She describes the show as being “Oprah meets David Letterman sprinkled with Candy”.[2]
Palmater was born in 1968 in Point La Nim, New Brunswick,[3] and grew up the youngest of seven children. She attended Dalhousie Regional High School, where she was active in sports.[4] She currently resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Education
After high school, she attended Fredericton's St. Thomas University and then completed a legal secretary's course at Maritime Business College.[4]
She was inspired by the legal failures of Donald Marshall Jr. and in 1996, she went to Dalhousie University, Halifax Nova Scotia, to study Law at Schulich School of Law, where she graduated in 1999 as the valedictorian of her class. She was the first Aboriginal law student in Canada to be valedictorian of her graduating class, and was president of the Dalhousie Aboriginal Law Students Association.
She got a job with the now defunct Law firm Patterson Palmer Hunt Murphy, but soon realized she didn’t want to practice corporate law,[2] and subsequently left her job and began working for the Nova Scotia Department of Education.
Career
She is a regular contributor to CBC Radio's Definitely Not the Opera and a frequent guest host of Q, and was a columnist for the now defunct Halifax newspaper The Daily News, where she wrote a series for Mi’kmaq History Month.
CBC Newsworld did a one-hour documentary on Palmater titled The Candy Show. It was produced and directed by Mary Munson in Halifax. The executive producer is Renée Pellerin.
The Candy Show is also the title of a regular comedy series which airs on APTN. Palmater is also a regular performer on the comedy club circuit in Canada, as well as a frequent host of entertainment galas and events.
Palmater produced her first film, Building Legends: The Mi'Kmaq Canoe Project, in 2011.
As an actor, she has had roles in the television series Forgive Me and Sex & Violence.
Awards
She was nominated for an East Coast Music Award for Media Person of the Year in 2013. The Candy Show was also nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Direction in a Variety or Comedy TV Series, for director Trevor Grant.
References
- ↑ Lisk, Dean (2008-07-25). "Comedians celebrate pride with laughter". metro.news. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
- 1 2 Angelina Chapin, Sweet, hard-earned success for Candy Palmater. Xtra!, April 21, 2008.
- ↑ "Candy Palmater's got ambition to burn". Xtra!, October 28, 2008.
- 1 2 Daniel N. Paul, "Attitude of young gives hope for non-racist future". Halifax Herald, July 23, 1999.