Two Greats: Cabot Martin and Judith Bobbitt

Nothing prepares you for the loss of a colleague and lifelong friend. Coping with the loss of great people is not something we learn about in schools, and there certainly isn’t a handbook at the office. Yet somehow we muddle through it. My way is to write about them and remember them in their most incredible light. Here goes…

Having spent 30 years building the energy industry, we will see our greatest contributors leave this world and go on to the next. We lost Lee Shinkle last year and now two more greats. I am talking about Judith Bobbitt and Cabot Martin. People who have worked tirelessly in the pursuit of making Newfoundland and Labrador a prosperous home for our future and our children. Reword a prosperous home for future generations.  I actually don’t like the word home.

These folks weren’t your typical oil characters. They were quirky, brilliant, undefinable, amazing people who cut their own path without regard for anyone’s opinion. They are the true pioneers of our industry.

My favorite quote of all time from Steve Jobs says it best, “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in square holes, the ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules and have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. BECAUSE THEY CHANGE THINGS. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones we see GENIUS. Because the ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do”.

Cabot Martin and Judith Bobbit, in their own unique way, changed our world for the better.

CABOT MARTIN

There’s not a person in Newfoundland and Labrador who has not benefitted from the contributions of Cabot Martin.   to kick-start the energy industry and bring the benefits of the offshore back to the people through the Atlantic Accord. He worked tirelessly to kick-start the energy industry and bring the benefits of offshore.

My very first recollection of Cabot was when he walked through the doors of my Signal Hill office and said, “Have I got a story for you.” That was 1990. Cabot was always finding ways to leverage the province’s resources, and every day he was putting together a double-page feature in The Globe and Mail profiling the oil and gas industry’s mega-potential offshore Newfoundland. it was an initiative that would change history!

The headline read:

“THE BIG PICTURE ON THE BIG PROJECT”

And a big picture it became. 30 years later, and as a direct result of what Cabot wrote for the rest of Canada to read, our oil industry boomed. Notably, John Crosbie and other keen businessmen from Newfoundland talked the federal government into becoming a primary shareholder in the Hibernia project at the time. Cabot Martin was pure and authentically a “people’s leader,” who knew what would support us in the future.

The early 1990s was a pivotal time in history when the people of this great province moved from a primary fishing industry to a petroleum-based economy that forever shaped our world. Thankfully Cabot and great minds like John Crosbie delivered our destiny.

Cabot loved gathering a small group of smart people together to talk “shop”. He would always ask, “how can we make things better?”

Cabot, myself, and a few other backroom provincial advocates like Phonse Fagan, Pat Laracy, and Kim Todd, would get together and talk about the latest oil scuttlebutt. I was lucky to be a part of it.

Over the years, we had a few different groups with different names. We would meet on Fridays for a “happy hour”. The monthly oil and gas group became such a loyal group of advocates and eventually, we ended up naming this group, the Ballicatters. Our mission was to keep informed, share information and support Newfoundland people with; jobs, royalties, benefits, contracts, opportunities, and technology transfer.

Cabot Martin was the KING of Newfoundland’s benefits and provincial prosperity. He was one of the key Fathers of the Atlantic Accord, and we have NEVER had such a quiet fighter in our corner. Cabot wasn’t flashy, nor in the limelight or on the news very much. He was in the background doing whatever he could to make Newfoundland better.

The last time I saw Cabot, he came barrelling in the door saying, “I’m gonna write a book,” and I said, Go way Cabot….you are the book.”

Cabot wrote a few books along the way and a storyteller he was. The last book he wrote was called “Muskrat Madness” a book that everyone should read. He believed Natural Gas was the future of the province and he had 30 years of offshore experience to back up his claims. Cabot believed that government should develop our natural gas as an important addition to existing oil developments.

Cabot did his homework and he could back up anything with facts and figures. He was so smart that many people couldn’t even understand him. That’s usually the way it is with geniuses.

People like Cabot, come along once in a lifetime. We were privileged to know him. God knows we will miss him.

JUDITH BOBBITT

Did you know that Judith Bobbitt was not only an amazing oil industry leader but she was also the owner of a great Salmon fishing resort? Yes, that’s right she was a Salmon Fisherwoman herself and owned an amazing lodge called the Pourvoirie Mécatina camp. Accessible only by plane or helicopter, Pourvoirie Mécatina is located in the Lower North Shore of Québec, where Mécatina anglers have consistently enjoyed one of the highest catch rates of salmon in all of Eastern Canada.

That’s what Judith did. She invested in great things, great companies, and great people. She fought like the devil to win her offshore oil contracts and as a direct result, she spent millions upon millions employing local people and contributing to the economic prosperity of St. John’s and the offshore.

Judith was a leader and an inspiration to women. She was a visionary in oceanography, oil, and gas and even spent her final years searching for a cure for cancer. She was an inspiration and was not afraid of a challenge. I was lucky enough to work with Judith many times over the years I worked on stories with her, built her company website, and did communications consulting in support of her life’s work:

Oceans Ltd – Oceansltd.com

Mecatina Salmon – http://mecatina.qc.ca/home/

Judith Bobbitt was “as sharp as a tack” with an honors degree in Physics from Concordia University. She made an outstanding contribution to, the development of local projects and created hundreds of jobs in Newfoundland. She was a leader of leaders and an ardent advocate for women’s rights. She fought for fair and equal contract negotiations, and she threw a hell of a party at the Spirit of Newfoundland every year for Christmas.

Those who knew her understood she was fiercely driven and loyal to her cause. To me, Judith was the fighter of all fighters. Judith was our modern-day Goddess of Athena. We will never forget her and always speak of her brilliance and passion.

See you on the other side again someday Cabot and Judith. Life is but a fleeting moment, and then it’s gone. Every day counts. Every day is everything.