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Canada’s environmental self-delusion
SYLVIA HIKINS recommends a graphic novel that lays bare the human and environmental costs of opencast mining in Alberta
Illustrations: Kate Beaton

Ducks — Two Years in the Oil Sands
by Kate Beaton
Jonathon Cape £25

 

KATE BEATON is a Canadian writer and cartoonist. The book, Ducks — Two Years in the Oil Sands, is her first full-length graphic narrative, a memoir dramatically played out in cartoon format.

Beaton comes from Cape Breton on Canada’s East Coast, an area where the major industries, oil and fishing, went into sharp decline and as a consequence, local people had to seek employment elsewhere.

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