When Kate Beaton migrated west to work in AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 oilsands, she didnB次元官网网址檛 know what to expect B次元官网网址� other than a job that would allow her to pay down her student loans.
Those making the move now, some 15-plus years after the comics artist worked in Fort McMurray, have more information about the industry thanks to social media, she said.
B次元官网网址淚f you donB次元官网网址檛 have a personal connection to the actual area, the location, or the workforce, or the people that travel back and forth and work there, then itB次元官网网址檚 harder to have an understanding of day-to-day life there,B次元官网网址� Beaton said in a phone interview from her home in Cape Breton.
With B次元官网网址淒ucks,B次元官网网址� BeatonB次元官网网址檚 graphic memoir thatB次元官网网址檚 now competing in Canada Reads, she sought to show people what the experience can really be like.
The 430-page retelling of her two years in the oilsands portrays the industry as one burdened by misogyny and corporate interests, but also a place where employees can find unexpected acts of kindness and a tight-knit community.
This yearB次元官网网址檚 slate of Canada Reads contestants are fighting to be named the one book B次元官网网址渢o shift your perspective.B次元官网网址� BeatonB次元官网网址檚 book is being defended by B次元官网网址淛eopardyB次元官网网址� super-champion Mattea Roach.
B次元官网网址淭his book is a window into so many critical conversations about the environment, about Indigenous land rights, about the student debt crisis and about gender relations. So there is an angle for every person to have their perspective shifted in some way,B次元官网网址� Roach said on the radio show B次元官网网址淨B次元官网网址� ahead of Canada ReadsB次元官网网址� Monday premiere.
None of that was being discussed when Beaton graduated from university with a pile of debt that she decided she would try to dig herself out of in the oilsands.
She worked first as a tool crib attendant, fetching tools and equipment for other workers, and then in a warehouse office.
B次元官网网址淓verybody around where I was living was going there for work. It was kind of a given that was just where the jobs were, and where the opportunity was,B次元官网网址� Beaton said.
With B次元官网网址淒ucksB次元官网网址� she sought to lay bare the realities that came along with that opportunity.
Once she arrived in Alberta, she got a job at the base plant before moving to one of the camps B次元官网网址� a better-paying position that was also more isolated. She worked long hours with few days off, and she pegged the ratio of men-to-women at roughly 50-to-one.
The book presents sexual harassment as the norm, and gendered violence as a common occurrence. Beaton described male co-workers hitting on her, ogling her and evaluating her appearance, making her feel like an object rather than a human.
Towards the end of BeatonB次元官网网址檚 tenure at the oilsands, news broke that 500 ducks had died in a pond of toxic sludge, bringing into stark relief the environmental impact of the industry.
B次元官网网址淚t also serves as a metaphor that takes you through the whole book, which is that these ducks were migratory birds that landed in a place that they thought was safe, and it wasnB次元官网网址檛, and they paid the price,B次元官网网址� Beaton said. B次元官网网址淎nd you have a whole migratory workforce of people who are doing the same thing, and some people end up flying, but other people do not fare so well.B次元官网网址�
In the years since Beaton worked in Alberta, fewer people are making the migration. The boom town of Fort Mac is no longer quite so booming, with fewer available jobs as the industry changes.
B次元官网网址淵ou expect those boom and bust economies to boom and bust. They go up and down. But there are human lives attached to those economic trends,B次元官网网址� she said.
Still, according to Statistics Canada, roughly 138,000 people were employed in AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 upstream energy sector in 2022.
Beaton said she wants B次元官网网址淒ucksB次元官网网址� to help Canadians learn about what some of those peopleB次元官网网址檚 jobs are like, but her goal isnB次元官网网址檛 to impart a specific lesson.
B次元官网网址淚 went through these two years working and I left with a lot more questions than I had when I got there,B次元官网网址� Beaton said. B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 want people to take anything away, particularly B次元官网网址� I just want to show people something that they donB次元官网网址檛 know.B次元官网网址�
Canada Reads runs on CBC from Monday through Friday, with one book being eliminated by the panellists each day.
Actor-filmmaker Keegan Connor Tracy will argue on behalf of Michael ChristieB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淕reenwood,B次元官网网址� while Yukon-based bhangra artist and educator Gurdeep Pandher will defend B次元官网网址淗otlineB次元官网网址� by Dimitri Nasrallah. TikToker Tasnim Geedi will champion B次元官网网址淢exican GothicB次元官网网址� by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and the actor-director Michael Greyeyes will represent B次元官网网址淪tation ElevenB次元官网网址� by Emily St. John Mandel.
The debates will take place at 10:05 a.m. ET on CBC Radio, with livestreams available online and on CBC Gem. TheyB次元官网网址檒l be broadcast later in the day on CBC TV.
B次元官网网址擭icole Thompson, The Canadian Press
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