Cabinet shuffle: Indigenous Services has a new minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould out as Justice minister

The department responsible for overseeing programs and services for Indigenous communities in Canada has a new leader, and Canada’s first Indigenous justice minister is being moved as part of the Trudeau government’s cabinet shuffle, announced Monday morning at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.

Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott will take over as president of the Treasury Board and minister of Digital Government, while Kwakwaka’wakw Justice Minister and Attorney General Judy Wilson-Raybould is being moved to Veteran Affairs.

Wilson-Raybould will also take on the role of associate minister of National Defence.

Seamus O’Regan is moving from Veterans Affairs to Indigenous Services.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Governor General Julie Payette pose for a photo after Jane Philpott was sworn in as president of the Treasury Board. Justin Brake/APTN.

While Monday’s cabinet shuffle is modest, it could have big implications for Indigenous people in Canada.

Philpott was appointed to the newly-created Indigenous Services portfolio following the Liberals’ split of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada into two separate departments in late 2017.

The decision caught Indigenous leaders by surprise at the time as the feds had not sought their input on a decision many have said could impact the lives of the more than 1.6 million Indigenous people in Canada.

But many leaders praised her efforts and her achievements, including last month’s announcement that Canada and Indigenous leaders will co-develop new child welfare legislation in an effort to return to Indigenous nations and communities control over their children.

Carolyn Bennett stays on as minister of Crown-Indigenous relations.

The cabinet shuffle was sparked by the sudden departure of Nova Scotia MP Scott Brison, who was president of the Treasury Board.

Trudeau said O’Regan’s “compassion” will serve him, and the government, well.

“As a leader, in our Cabinet, I know he will work tirelessly alongside Minister Bennett to being about real change for Indigenous communities in this country,” said Trudeau at the swearing in ceremony.

The prime minister later told reporters O’Regan’s “experience and interactions with Indigenous peoples as well throughout his life will help him in terms of making sure this government is living up to its responsibility to fix the most important relationship we have with this government, that with Indigenous peoples.”

Trudeau also said Philpott was a “natural choice” to take over for Brison.

policy changes based on the recognition of title and rights, including historic treaties, are urgently needed, so that Indigenous peoples can accelerate and lead the work of re-building their Nations and governments, and a new climate of co-operative relations can emerge,” she writes.

“While our government has taken some very important steps, and hard work is being done, the necessary shifts have not yet been fully achieved. Rather, a number of the proposals that our government has been pursuing so far require substantial work in co-operation and collaboration with Indigenous peoples to reset the new foundations for this most important relationship.”

Ending her letter Wilson-Raybould says that as a cabinet minister she will “continue to be directly engaged in advocating for and advancing the fundamental shifts in relations with Indigenous peoples that are required and will continue to work with my colleagues and to ensure my voice is heard.”

The Trudeau government’s term wraps up in June with a fall election on the horizon.

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