Candy Palmater (December 4, 1968 – December 25, 2021) was a Canadian actress, comedienne, and broadcaster. She was the creator and writer of her own national television show for APTN, ''The Candy Show'',Angelina Chapin
Sweet, hard-earned success for Candy Palmater
. ''

Xtra! ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former p ...

'', April 21, 2008. and hosted the daily interview series ''The Candy Palmater Show'' on

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of ...

in summer 2016."CBC Radio to debut Out in the Open, The Candy Palmater Show"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.c ...

, May 16, 2016.

Early life

Palmater was born December 4, 1968, in Point La Nim,

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic Canad ...

, and grew up the youngest of seven children. She attended Dalhousie Regional High School, where she was active in sports.Daniel N. Paul
"Attitude of young gives hope for non-racist future"
''Halifax Herald'', July 23, 1999.

Education

After high school, she attended Fredericton's

St. Thomas University St. Thomas University or University of St. Thomas may refer to: * Saint Thomas Aquinas University, Colombia *Saint Thomas Aquinas University of the North, Tucumán province, Argentina *St. Thomas University (Canada), Fredericton, New Brunswick *St. ...

and then completed a legal secretary's course at Maritime Business College. She was inspired by the legal failures of the Donald Marshall Jr. case and in 1996, she went to

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus in Saint John, New Brunswick. Dalhousie offer ...

in Halifax to study Law at

Dalhousie Law School , mottoeng = "Law is the source of light" , endowment = , staff = , faculty = 119 , dean = Camille Cameron , head_label = , head = , doctoral = , students = 500 , city ...

, where she graduated in 1999 as the valedictorian of her class. She was the first Aboriginal law student in Canada to be

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA) ...

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, and subsequently left her job and began working for the

Nova Scotia Department of Education The Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is a department of the Government of Nova Scotia responsible for overseeing education institutions in the province. Becky Druhan is the current Minister of Education. Histo ...

Career

Candy on set of Season 3 - The Candy Show

She was a regular contributor to

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

's ''

Definitely Not the Opera ''Definitely Not the Opera'' (or simply ''DNTO'') was a magazine-style radio program focusing on aspects of pop culture and storytelling, that aired on CBC Radio One on Saturday afternoons from 1994 until 2016. The show's running time varied ov ...

'', a regular columnist on The Next Chapter, and an interim 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 CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. As Canada's first all-news channel, it is th ...

did a one-hour documentary on Palmater titled ''The Candy Show''. It was produced and directed by Mary Munson in Halifax. The executive producer was Renée Pellerin. ''The Candy Show'' is also the title of a regular comedy series that airs on APTN. Palmater was also a regular performer on the

comedy club A comedy club is a venue—typically a nightclub, bar, hotel, casino, or restaurant—where people watch or listen to performances, including stand-up comedians, improvisational comedians, impersonators, impressionists, magicians, ventriloquis ...

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 actress, she had roles in the television series '' Forgive Me'', '' Sex & Violence'', and ''

Trailer Park Boys ''Trailer Park Boys'' is a Canadian mockumentary sitcom television series created by Mike Clattenburg that began airing in 2001 as a continuation of his 1999 film bearing the same name. The show follows the misadventures of a group of trailer ...

''. Her daily CBC Radio summer series ''The Candy Palmater Show'' debuted on May 30, 2016. Following the end of that show's run, she did another stint as guest host of ''Q'' for several weeks in September and October, between the departure of

Shad The Alosinae, or the shads,Alosinae
Tom Power Thomas Francis Power (1869 – February 25, 1898) was an American professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for one season. In 1890, he played primarily as a first baseman, but also played as a second baseman, ...

. In 2017 she was a panelist on ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Fren ...

'', advocating for Katherena Vermette's novel ''The Break.'' She was also a frequent guest panelist on the

comedy series, '' Because News'', hosted by

Gavin Crawford Gavin Crawford (born 2 April 1971) is a Canadian comedian and actor, best known for ''The Gavin Crawford Show'' and ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes''. He currently hosts the panel show, '' Because News'', on CBC Radio One. Early life Crawford was b ...

. Palmater had a recurring role in the CBC Television sitcom ''

Run the Burbs ''Run the Burbs'' is a Canadian television sitcom, which premiered on CBC Television on January 5, 2022.Greg David"CBC announces winter premiere dates" ''TV, eh?'', November 23, 2021. The series stars Andrew Phung as Andrew Pham, a suburban stay- ...

'', broadcast posthumously.

Death

Palmater died at her home in Toronto on December 25, 2021, at the age of 53. Shortly before her death she received several weeks of medical treatment at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto after being diagnosed with EGPA (

Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), formerly known as allergic granulomatosis, is an extremely rare autoimmune condition that causes inflammation of small and medium-sized blood vessels (vasculitis) in persons with a history of ...

). Her memoir, ''Running Down a Dream'', was published posthumously in 2022.

Awards

She was nominated for an

East Coast Music Award The East Coast Music Association is a non-profit association that hosts an annual awards ceremony based in Atlantic Canada for music appreciation on the East Coast of Canada. Its mission is to develop, advance and celebrate East Coast Canadian mu ...

for Media Person of the Year in 2013. ''The Candy Show'' was also nominated for a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) ...

for Best Direction in a Variety or Comedy TV Series, for director Trevor Grant. For her work on the television series ''Forgive Me'', she was nominated for an ACTRA Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2017, Palmater was presented with the Bonham Centre Award from The Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, University of Toronto, for her contributions to the advancement and education of issues around sexual identification.

References

External links

The Candy Show
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Palmater, Candy 1968 births 2021 deaths 20th-century First Nations people 21st-century First Nations people Actresses from New Brunswick Canadian talk radio hosts Canadian television actresses Canadian women comedians CBC Radio hosts Canadian lesbian actresses Canadian LGBT broadcasters Lesbian comedians LGBT First Nations people Mi'kmaq people People from Restigouche County, New Brunswick Schulich School of Law alumni Canadian women radio hosts Comedians from New Brunswick Comedians from Nova Scotia Canadian stand-up comedians Canadian sketch comedians 20th-century Canadian comedians 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian comedians 21st-century Canadian actresses 21st-century LGBT people First Nations comedians First Nations women Canadian memoirists Canadian lesbian writers LGBT memoirists Canadian LGBT comedians