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 o ...

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

CBC News CBC News is the 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 ...

, May 16, 2016.

Early life

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

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, and grew up the youngest of seven children. She attended Dalhousie Regional High School, where she was active in sports.Daniel N. Paul, . ''Halifax Herald'', July 23, 1999. Her father was Mi'kmaq and her mother was white. She was a member of the Eel River Bar First Nation.

Education

After high school, she attended Fredericton's St. Thomas University 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, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

in Halifax to study Law at

Dalhousie Law School The Schulich School of Law is the law school of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Founded in 1883 as Dalhousie Law School, it is the oldest university-based common law school in Canada. It adopted its current name in October ...

, 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 class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

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.

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'', 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 is Canada's first all-news channel, and the world's third-oldest television service of this ...

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 where a variety of comedic acts perform to a live audience. Although the term usually refers to establishments that feature stand-up comedy, stand-up comedians, it can also feature other forms of comedy such as improvisati ...

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 television sitcom 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 park resi ...

''. 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 Alosidae, or the shads, are a family (biology), family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species. The shads are Pelagic fish, pelagic (open water) schooling fish, of which many are anadr ...

and the debut of permanent new host

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 panellist 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 Fre ...

'', advocating for Katherena Vermette's novel ''The Break.'' She was also a frequent guest panellist 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 bo ...

, and narrated the documentary series '' Skindigenous''. 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

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.

Filmography

Awards

She was nominated for an

East Coast Music Award The East Coast Music Association (ECMA) is a non-profit association purposed towards supporting the Music of Canada's Maritimes, music industry in the Canada, Canadian east coast, i.e., Atlantic Canada. The ECMA hosts the annual East Coast Music ...

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

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () 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) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

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 Canadian radio show creators CBC Radio hosts Canadian lesbian actresses Canadian LGBTQ broadcasters Lesbian comedians LGBTQ First Nations people Canadian 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 Canadian LGBTQ people First Nations comedians 20th-century First Nations women 21st-century Canadian memoirists Canadian lesbian writers Lesbian memoirists Canadian LGBTQ comedians 21st-century First Nations women