Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m O C T O B E R 2 0 1 6 25 tem failed Donald Marshall Jr., a Mi'kmaq man from Nova Scotia convicted of a murder he didn't commit and imprisoned for 10 years in 1971, it haunted her. At 27, Palmater went to Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University in Halifax and loved the experience. Always proud of her Mi'kmaq heritage, she was president of the Dalhousie Aboriginal Law Students Association and also the first aboriginal law student in Canada to be valedictorian of the graduating class. After graduating in 1999 and being called to the bar in 2000, Palmater ended up at a corporate law firm in Halifax — the now- defunct Patterson Palmer Hunt and Murphy — where she lasted two years. Palmater cites the zero-per-cent hire-back rate for Mi'kmaq people — a statistic she changed — as a reason for going into cor- porate law. She also admits to "drinking the Kool Aid" while in law school, but she ultimately found the firm wasn't the place for her because "there's no advocacy there." "My speaking career had just started to morph and I was notic- ing more and more I'm very happy when I'm on stage behind a microphone and I'm very unhappy when I'm in my office." The final straw was when Palmater's father had a heart attack and was in hospital waiting for open-heart surgery. She recounts how when she arrived at the hospital, her family was furious. A cli- ent of Palmater's had tracked down where she was going and called her father's hospital room. After speaking to the client, Palmater's father had to be sedated because — in his confused, medicated state — he thought the call meant Palmater was somehow lost. "A few things like that made me think, 'This isn't the place for me,'" Palmater says. So Palmater left the firm, and her career as a lawyer, while also ending a 12-year relationship with a man and telling her family she was gay. It was a tumultuous time in her life, and Palmater needed a clean break. "If I'd gone to legal aid or some kind of foreign service right out of law school, maybe that would have worked for me, but at that point . . . I was so disillusioned I just felt I've got to step out on a totally different path." After leaving the firm, Palmater went to work for the gov- ernment of Nova Scotia in the department of education, while telling people she was a comedian — even though she had never performed comedy before. She performed for the first time — for free, because she "didn't know if I'd even be any good at it" — at the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission women's forum and got a standing ovation. So she left her government job to "make my run at living on my wit." Palmater pitched The Candy Show to The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, where "it ran for five seasons, won multiple awards, it was amazing," Palmater says. Despite landing far from a career in the law, Palmater has no regrets and says she wouldn't trade her law degree for all the money in the world. "It's the most valuable formal thing I've ever done," she says. "I'm a very passionate and fiery person. . . . Law school really taught me that beating on my chest and saying, 'I'm right, get on board' is not the way to do it. So that serves me every day, in every way, in everything I do." She's also able to handle her own contracts and says, "People just have a certain level of respect for a law degree." "Practising law . . . was soul crushing for me, but that's because it doesn't suit my personality — that's not because there's anything wrong with practising law," she stresses. She adds that if anything could tempt her back to practising, it would be volunteering her time to an innocence project once she retires. After Jian Ghomeshi lost his job at the CBC, Palmater was approached to audition for the new host, but it was agreed she needed a show to fit her, not the other way around. She was told if she moved to Toronto, they could work something out. After postponing her move for a month — during which she shot sea- son 10 of Trailer Park Boys, playing a part written specifically for her alongside the likes of Tom Arnold and Snoop Dogg — Pal- mater came to Toronto last summer, filled in on Q for then-host Shad's vacation leave and got her own show this past summer. "Bodda boom, bodda bing, here I am now trying something brand new," Palmater says. "Radio is different than TV. It's new to me, and I'm loving it." When asked for advice to fellow lawyers, Palmater doesn't hesitate. "Don't be romanced by the money!" she exclaims. "Make sure you're doing it because there are things about it that bring you great joy." Palmater may have taken her own advice and walked away from practising law, but she still carries with her that sense of justice. "Through television and radio, it's given me a bigger micro- phone, a bigger voice and a bigger opportunity to be able to ask for and demand fairsies — even-stevens." © 2016 Thomson Reuters Canada Limited 00239YV-A84370-NK Order # 987316-65203 $101 Softcover August 2016 approx. 520 pages 978-0-7798-7316-6 Biennial volumes supplied on standing order subscription Shipping and handling are extra. Price subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. With this convenient, easy-to-use resource, you have at your fingertips access to the rules and the amending information that updates them. This comprehensive biennial publication is fully updated, completely indexed, and thoroughly cross-referenced. It includes: • Queen's Bench Rules (Civil and Criminal) • The author's explanatory notes that introduce and aid in interpreting the rules New and updated in this edition • Updates to the following Queen's Bench Rules of Manitoba: – Man. Reg. 258/2014 – Man. Reg. 271/2014 – Man. Reg. 17/2015 – Man. Reg. 98/2015 – Man. Reg. 164/2015 – Man. Reg. 165/2015 – Man. Reg. 23/2016 These amendments change the rules relating to small claims court practices and family proceedings practices, and the rules relating to how pleadings are struck out • Updated Introductory Notes to reflect the new rules amendments • Updated Index New Edition Manitoba Queen's Bench Rules 2017 Karen Busby Available Risk-Free for 30 Days Order Online at www.carswell.com Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164

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