Candy Palmater passionately defends The Break
There were many emotional moments during first day of the Canada Reads 2017 debates, but one of the more personal moments took place shortly before the vote. Candy Palmater listened to criticism from other panellists that men were portrayed negatively in her book, The Break by Katherena Vermette, which perhaps makes the work less inclusive. Palmater responded by saying The Break is a particular story about a group of women that has resonated intensely with members of Canada's Indigenous communities.
"As I travelled around the country, so many Indigenous people have told me 'this is my life,'" said Palmater. "A few years ago when the RCMP said most of the violence against Indigenous women is perpetrated by Indigenous men, the rest of Canada said, 'Oh. OK. Then we don't have to worry about that anymore now. That's their own problem.' I feel like what [Katherena Vermette] was trying to do was show... how colonization has affected both our males and our females and their relationship within our communities."