CANDY PALMATER AWARD

Awarded for the first time in 2022, The Candy Palmater Award is named in honour of the late Candy Palmater, the celebrated Mi'kmaw actor, writer, broadcaster, comedian, and member of Eel River Bar First Nation in New Brunswick. The award was created to celebrate the life, enthusiasm, talent, and intelligence that flowed through all of Candy’s work, and to foster these same qualities in others.

Candy studied law in Halifax, working as a lawyer for the Nova Scotia government before turning to comedy and broadcasting. She created and hosted the award-winning The Candy Show on APTN, was a regular CBC personality, served as a co-host on CTV’s afternoon talk show The Social, and appeared in various shows, including Trailer Park Boys and Call Me Fitz. She also wrote a memoir which was published by Harper-Collins in 2022.

2025 Candy Palmater AWARD Winner: tANAS SYLLIBOY

Athanasius “Tanas” Sylliboy (he/they/nekm), also known as Anita LandBack(she/they/nekm), is a Two-Spirit Lnu from Eskisoni First Nation whose work spans medicine, advocacy, and the performing arts. A current medical student at Dalhousie University with nearly a decade of healthcare experience, Athanasius has served as a nurse practitioner in many Mi’kmaq communities, in Kjipuktuk, and even all the way to Pikangikum, Ontario. Their career has been dedicated to transforming healthcare and education systems to better reflect the voices, needs, and strength of Indigenous and 2SLGBTQ+ peoples.

By day, Tanas is a clinician, student, researcher, and educator working to bring cultural safety, language, and equity into medical spaces. By night, they step into the moccasins of Anita LandBack, a heartfelt drag artist and DJ who blends culture, humour, and queerness into storytelling through performance. As Anita, they have shared their authenticity on stages across Mi’kma’ki and beyond, including Canada’s a Drag (Season 4) and the JUNO Awards, reclaiming space and spreading joy one deadly auntie joke at a time.

Together, Tanas and Anita represent two sides of the same medicine. One is grounded in care, the other in celebration, and both are rooted in love for community.

PREVIOUS WINNERS

2022 - Calendula Sack

2024 - Jenn Waugh