Life skills and career tips for Canada's lawyers in training
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/55358
BY JEFF MACKINNON Kathryn Marshall The muscle behind Kathryn Marshall is not afraid to share her opinions and fight for what she believes in, including standing up for Canada's oil industry. C hiquita Brands Interna- tional Inc. was likely hop- ing for a merrier Christmas. Maybe a few of its bananas stuff ed into the stockings of Canadian kids along with the mandarin oranges or a few eaten as an alternative to short- bread cookies. Instead the company got a lump of coal courtesy of a University of Calgary law student who decided that rather than take a three-week party break with her friends, she would spend the holidays punishing Chiquita for a perceived attack on Canadian oil. As the muscle behind pro-Alberta oilsands web site EthicalOil.org, 26-year- old Kathryn Marshall in December or- ganized a national boycott that damaged Chiquita's market share north of the 48th parallel. Marshall believes it is hypo- critical for the company to not use oil 26 SPRING 2 0 1 2 products originating from Canada while publicly supporting oil-producing nations with defi ciencies in their environ- mental practices and human rights poli- cies. "Going to school in Alberta you just start thinking a lot more about the oil and gas industry because it's all around you," the London, Ont., native said as we sat in a downtown Calgary hotel restaurant full of people in suits likely discussing said lifeblood of Canada's richest province. "You start to also see through some of the myths and stereotypes and misconcep- tions of the oil industry in Canada." Marshall's interest in the movement was piqued aſt er reading conservative pundit Ezra Levant's book Ethical Oil. Levant then asked her to get involved in his new grassroots advocacy organi- zation Ethical Oil Institute, for which she now serves as spokeswoman. "She C ANADIAN Lawy er 4STUDENTS doesn't seem to follow the norm of a person who is only 26," says Levant. "In other words, she doesn't seem like an 'Occupier' or a passive protester, but someone who instead works toward forging change." Like anyone of her generation, Mar- shall is fully immersed in social media. She blogs regularly (kathrynmarshall.com) and tweets constantly (@KVMarshall). Plus, she writes a regular column for 24 Hours, Vancouver's free daily newspaper. Marshall has also become a regular face on various television political panel discussions on all three major news net- works. Back in December she debated Green Party Leader Elizabeth May on CTV about the oilsands and the role of Canada at the United Nations climate change conference in Durban, South Africa. * EthicalOil.org GAVIN YOUNG