Best-selling Cape Breton author pens memoir offering insight into oil-camp life
An author and cartoonist from Mabou, N.S., is finding commercial and critical success with her new autobiography, “Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands.”
The New York Times best-selling graphic novel chronicles Kate Beaton’s life as she leaves her small Nova Scotia town to work in Alberta with hopes of paying down her student loan.
It’s a journey many Maritime families know well, but Beaton says she wanted to show the human side of an industry often overshadowed by political conversation.
“The images that we get that are of these gigantic machines and gigantic sites, and you forget that there are human beings in there,” said Beaton.
In writing the book, she wanted to bring in as many stories and perspectives as possible to try to show, and share, the full picture of what it is like to live in a work camp.
While a lot of Maritimers know what it’s like to work in a camp, either first or secondhand, not everyone in the country is as aware of the realities, she said.
“People fly in and fly out, they are distinctly removed from normal society,” said Beaton. “All of the issues that come with living there are cut off.”
A retelling of her time there as a young woman, she says the book is rife with instances of harassment. And, while not every man working in a camp is like that, “a few people who were that way is enough to ruin your day,” said Beaton.
“Bosses will tell you, ‘It’s a man’s world.”
She says, while working in camps from 2005 to 2008, conversations around mental health and substance abuse did not happen.
“There wasn’t any talk about how the isolation and loneliness and access to drugs and alcohol and everything like that affected the mental health of workers.”
Presenting her story in graphic form allowed her to better showcase the emotion and vast landscapes she wanted to portray, said Beaton.
“The way that people are with one another physically, it emotes the place in a way that you can’t do in prose.”
“Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands” is available on Amazon.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Richard Perry, record producer behind 'You're So Vain' and other hits, dies at 82
Richard Perry, a hitmaking record producer with a flair for both standards and contemporary sounds whose many successes included Carly Simon’s 'You’re So Vain,' Rod Stewart’s 'The Great American Songbook' series and a Ringo Starr album featuring all four Beatles, died Tuesday. He was 82.
Hong Kong police issue arrest warrants and bounties for six activists including two Canadians
Hong Kong police on Tuesday announced a fresh round of arrest warrants for six activists based overseas, with bounties set at $1 million Hong Kong dollars for information leading to their arrests.
Read Trudeau's Christmas message
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued his Christmas message on Tuesday. Here is his message in full.
Stunning photos show lava erupting from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano
One of the world's most active volcanoes spewed lava into the air for a second straight day on Tuesday.
Indigenous family faced discrimination in North Bay, Ont., when they were kicked off transit bus
Ontario's Human Rights Tribunal has awarded members of an Indigenous family in North Bay $15,000 each after it ruled they were victims of discrimination.
What is flagpoling? A new ban on the practice is starting to take effect
Immigration measures announced as part of Canada's border response to president-elect Donald Trump's 25 per cent tariff threat are starting to be implemented, beginning with a ban on what's known as 'flagpoling.'
Dismiss Trump taunts, expert says after 'churlish' social media posts about Canada
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump and those in his corner continue to send out strong messages about Canada.
Heavy travel day starts with brief grounding of all American Airlines flights
American Airlines briefly grounded flights nationwide Tuesday because of a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive and winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive.
King Charles III is set to focus on healthcare workers in his traditional Christmas message
King Charles III is expected to use his annual Christmas message to highlight health workers, at the end of a year in which both he and the Princess of Wales were diagnosed with cancer.