Jody Wilson-Raybould PC QC MP (born
March 23, 1971) is a Kwakwaka’wakw
Canadian politician and the Liberal Member of Parliament for
the riding of Vancouver Granville. She
served as Minister of Justice and
Attorney General of Canada in the cabinet of Justin Trudeau from 2015 until
January 2019 and then as Minister of
Veterans Affairs of Canada from January 14, 2019,
until resigning on February 12, 2019. Before entering
Canadian federal politics, she was a Crown Prosecutor for British Columbia, a Treaty
Commissioner and Regional Chief of the B.C. Assembly of First
Nations.
Early
life and education
Wilson-Raybould is a descendant of the Musgamagw
Tsawataineuk and Laich-Kwil-Tach peoples, which
are part of the Kwakwaka’wakw, also known as the Kwak’wala
speaking peoples. She is a member of the We Wai Kai Nation.
Wilson-Raybould carries the Kwak’wala name Puglaas,
which roughly translates to "woman born to noble people".
Wilson-Raybould is the daughter of Bill Wilson, a
First Nations politician and graduate of University of British Columbia Faculty of
Law, and Sandra Wilson, a teacher.[1]
On Canadian national television in 1983, Wilson-Raybould's
father informed then-Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau that his
two daughters hoped to become lawyers and then Prime
Minister some day.[1][2]
Born at Vancouver General
Hospital, she was raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, and
later Comox, British Columbia,
graduating from École Highland Secondary School.[3]
Wilson-Raybould completed her bachelor of arts degree in
political science and history at the University of Victoria.
She then earned a law degree from the University of British Columbia Faculty of
Law. She married Dr. Tim Raybould on November 29,
2008.[4]
Career
Crown
Prosecutor (2000–2003)
Wilson-Raybould is a lawyer by profession and was called to
the bar in 2000 after articling at the downtown Vancouver
law firm of Connell Lightbody. She was a provincial Crown
prosecutor in Vancouver's Main Street criminal courthouse in
the Downtown Eastside for three
years (2000–2003).[5]
B.C.
Treaty Commission
In 2003, she took a position as a process advisor at the B.C. Treaty
Commission, a body established to oversee the
negotiations of modern treaties between First Nations and
the Crown. In 2004, she was elected commissioner by the
chiefs of the First Nations Summit. She served as
commissioner for nearly seven years, one and a half of which
she spent as the acting chief commissioner. As a
Commissioner, she helped to advance a number of treaty
tables, including Tsawwassen First Nation,
which became the first in B.C. to achieve a treaty under the
B.C. Treaty Process.[6]
Wilson-Raybould also helped the establishment of a "Common
Table" of 60 plus First Nations and the Crown.[7]
We Wai
Kai Council
Wilson-Raybould was elected to council for the We Wai Kai Nation in January
2009, a role that she credits for strengthening her
understanding and commitment to work at the provincial and
national level advocating for First Nations' governance.[8]
As a councillor for We Wai Kai she was
instrumental in helping her community develop a Land Code
and to move out from under the Indian Act. As a result of this
work she was appointed as her Nation's representative to the
national First Nations Lands Advisory Board (LAB), and was
subsequently elected from among her peers to sit as a Board
Member for the LAB as well as a member of the Finance
Committee.[9]
As councillor for We Wai Kai Nation,
Wilson-Raybould was also central to We Wai Kai developing a
financial administration law (establishing a transparency
and accountability through a regulatory framework for
establishing budgets and controlling expenditures), assuming
property taxation powers under the First Nations Fiscal
Management Act[10]
and becoming a Borrowing Member of the First Nations Finance
Authority (FNFA). Wilson-Raybould was appointed the We Wai
Kai representative to the FNFA. The Borrowing Members of the
FNFA elected Wilson-Raybould as the Chair in 2013, 2014 and
2015. The FNFA is a not-for-profit that pools the public
borrowing requirements of qualifying First Nations and
issues bonds on the strength of a central credit (A3). Under
Wilson-Raybould's chair, the FNFA issued its inaugural
debenture in 2014 in the amount $96 million. This issue was
reopened in 2015 adding an additional $50 million.[11]
B.C. Assembly of First
Nations
Wilson-Raybould was first elected Regional Chief of the
B.C. Assembly of First Nations in 2009. The Regional Chief
is elected by the 203 First Nations in B.C.[12]
She is credited with bringing the Chiefs together, which was
reflected in her being re-elected Regional Chief in November
2012. She won on the first ballot with nearly 80% of the
vote.[13]
As Regional Chief, Wilson-Raybould concentrated on the need
for nation building, good governance, and empowering
indigenous peoples to take the practical steps necessary to
implement the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to
realize the promise of the recognition of aboriginal and
treaty rights in section
35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. She focused on
reconciliation between First Nations and the province of BC
and Canada by advancing 1) the cause of First Nations'
strong and appropriate governance, 2) fair access to lands
and resources, 3) improved education and 4) individual
health. In 2011 and 2012, Wilson-Raybould co-authored the BCAFN
Governance Toolkit: A Guide to Nation Building. Part 1 of
the Governance Toolkit – The Governance Report, which
has been acclaimed as the most comprehensive report of its
kind in Canada, setting out what First Nations in B.C. are
doing with respect to transitioning their governance from
under the Indian Act to a post-colonial world based on
recognition of aboriginal title and rights.[8]
In 2012, Wilson-Raybould and the BCAFN launched Part 2 of
the Governance Toolkit – The Governance Self-Assessment and
Part 3 – Guide to Community Engagement: Navigating Our Way
Beyond the Post-Colonial Door. In 2014, a second edition of
The Governance Report was released.[8]
In 2015, Wilson-Raybould and the BCAFN released A User's
Guide to the BCAFN Governance Toolkit: Supporting Leaders of
Change.
Wilson-Raybould held portfolio responsibilities on the
Assembly of First Nations national executive for governance
and nation building, the Chiefs Committee on Claims
(including additions to reserve and specific claims) and
chaired the comprehensive claims joint working group.
During her first terms as Regional Chief, Wilson-Raybould
worked with colleagues, including Senator Gerry St. Germain to
introduce Bill S-212, the First Nations Self-Government
Recognition Act.[14]
This Senate public bill would have provided a mechanism for
First Nations to be recognized by the federal government as
"self-governing" following the development of an internal
constitution and after a community ratification vote on a
self-government proposal. The bill died on the order paper.
Wilson-Raybould participated in the 2012 Crown–First
Nations Gathering delivering a strong message on the need to
resolve First Nations issues including the need for
governance reform and moving beyond the Indian Act to
support a strong economy.[15]
In the wake of the Idle No More protests and despite
criticism from some First Nation leaders, Wilson-Raybould
participated in high-level talks with then Prime Minister Stephen Harper. She expressed
concern that very little progress had been made nationally
on First Nations’ issues since the 2012 First Nations-Crown
Gathering and suggested concrete solutions to these issues.[16]
Her message being that societies that govern well simply do
better economically, socially and politically than those
that do not. Good governance increases societies’ chances of
meeting the needs of its peoples and developing sustainable
long-term economic development and that First Nations are no
different. She attributes the failure of the Conservative
Government to make significant progress during this time as
one of her motivations to run for the federal Liberals in
the 2015 federal election.
Volunteerism
Wilson-Raybould has served as a director of Capilano
University.[17]
As a former board member for the Minerva Foundation for BC
Women (2008–2010), Wilson-Raybould was instrumental in the
development of the "Combining Our Strength Initiative"[18]
– a partnership of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women. In
addition to her duties as Director of the Lands Advisory
Board and Chair of the First Nations Finance Authority
Wilson-Raybould has also been a Director of the Nuyumbalees
Cultural Centre since 2013.[19]
Wilson-Raybould has spoken publicly on such topics as
aboriginal law, treaties, the environment, financial
transparency, good governance and reconciliation. Prior to
federal politics, she made numerous presentations before
parliamentary committees including the Senate Standing
Committee on Human Rights, the Senate Standing Committee on
Aboriginal Peoples and the House of Commons Standing Committee on
Aboriginal Peoples and Northern Development.
Wilson-Raybould has travelled extensively to work on
indigenous peoples' rights and leadership issues, including
to the Philippines, Taiwan and Israel.
Federal
politics
Nomination
and candidacy
Wilson-Raybould was the co-chair of the 2014 Biennial
Liberal Convention held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She
secured the nomination for Vancouver Granville on
July 31, 2014. Wilson-Raybould is seen to be close to
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau who approached
her to run for the Liberals during the 2013 AFN Annual
General meeting in Whitehorse.[20]
Her areas of core policy concern and competence include:
democratic reform; balancing the environment and the
economy, Aboriginal affairs and affordable housing.[21]
Wilson-Raybould visited the Great Bear Rainforest with
Justin Trudeau in 2014.[22]
Following the announcement of the nomination, Isadore Day,
Chief of the Serpent River First
Nation located in Ontario, alleged that
Wilson-Raybould was in conflict of interest by continuing to
act as Regional Chief while holding the Liberal Party
nomination. Wilson-Raybould denied that her decision to run
gave rise to a conflict. In response to Chief Day's
allegation, the BC Assembly of First Nations adopted a
unanimous resolution in support of Wilson-Raybould, and
expressed full confidence she would be able to continue to
perform her duties as Regional Chief while also serving as a
Liberal candidate. Wilson-Raybould said she would take a
leave of absence during the campaign and if a conflict did
arise before then, she would resign.
Wilson-Raybould stepped down from the position of Regional
Chief in June 2015 in accordance with the transition plan
approved in September 2014[23]
by consensus of the Chiefs following her nomination.
Minister
of Justice and Attorney General (2015–2019)
Wilson-Raybould began serving as Minister of Justice and
the Attorney General of Canada (MOJAG) on November 4, 2015,
becoming the first Indigenous person and third woman to hold
the office.[24]
On November 12, 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave
Wilson-Raybould her mandate letter, which asked her to
deliver on, among other matters, responding to the Supreme
Court of Canada’s decision on medical assistance in dying,
reviewing the government’s litigation strategy, conducting a
review of the changes in the criminal justice system and
sentencing reforms over the previous decade (including
looking to increase the use of restorative justice processes
and other initiatives to reduce the rate of incarceration
amongst indigenous Canadians), creating the process to
legalize and strictly regulate cannabis, restoring a modern
Court Challenges Program, introducing government legislation
to add gender identity as a prohibited ground for
discrimination under Canadian law, and reforming the Supreme
Court of Canada nomination process to ensure that it is
transparent, inclusive and accountable to Canadians.[25]
In December 2016, along with Ralph Goodale, the Minister of
Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, she submitted the
National Security Green Paper, "Our Security, Our Rights:
National Security Green Paper, 2016",[26]
a consultation paper aimed at informing further public
discussion on issues of national security.
During the first six months in office, she introduced major
legislation on medical assistance in dying, one of her key
mandate letter commitments. In collaboration with her
colleague, Health Minister Jane Philpott, Wilson-Raybould
led the effort to pass Bill C-14, which received Royal
Assent on June 17, 2016.[27]
Wilson-Raybould also introduced Bill C-16, which amended
the Canadian Human Rights Act to add gender identity and
gender expression to the list of prohibited grounds for
discrimination, which was another key mandate letter
commitment. The legislation also amended the Criminal Code
to extend protections against hate propaganda, and it
received Royal Assent on June 16, 2017.[28]