Former attorney general of Canada and justice minister Jody Wilson Raybould has released her book “From Where I Stand,” ahead of the federal election Oct. 21 where she is running as an independent candidate.
Wilson-Raybould held a book signing event in Vancouver where a long line of people stood to meet her.
Roechelle Gaudet from Alberta was one of them.
“I’m very excited, it’s an absolute honour to shake hands with this lady,” said Gaudet. “She stands for everything I believe in and everything I stand for back home.
“I’m thrilled and can’t wait to see her back in the House of Commons.”
Wilson Raybould says the book took her ten years to finish and provides insight into the relationship between Canada and Indigenous peoples.
It provides potential solutions on how to move forward with true reconciliation and to rebuild nations.
“We can move beyond the history of denial of rights in this country when it comes to Indigenous peoples and to create the space for Indigenous nations within Canada to re-build,” said Wilson Raybould. “And one of those solutions that not only have I been advocating but Indigenous peoples for as long as I can remember is a frame work for rights recognition and to enable Indigenous communities to translate the minimum standards for example in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples the full box of rights that is section 35 of our constitution into practical and meaningful benefits on the ground in communities.”
Wilson Raybould is currently on the campaign trail trying to hold her Vancouver-Granville seat as an independent.
At a campaign rally in Vancouver recently, she committed to pursuing the truth and change through non-partisan co-operation.
“My time in federal politics I don’t think is done and my grandmother always taught me that you have an important voice you need to use your voice and use it to ultimately use it to improve the lives of people so that’s what I’m going to do,” she said.
Wilson-Raybould left the Liberal party over the SNC Lavallin affair.
She’s hoping to hold the seat against Liberal party challenger, Taleeb Noormohamed, a 42 year-old tech entrepreneur.
Also running in the riding is climate activist Yvonne Hanson for the NDP, former Ottawa political staffer Zach Segal for the Conservatives, and Naomi Chocyk, a one-time constituency staffer for Wilson-Raybould, for the People’s Party of Canada.
Wilson-Raybould, who was once a B.C. regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations, quickly became one of the stars Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his team promoted heavily in their 2015 bid for power.
But Wilson-Raybould precipitated a crisis for Trudeau’s government last winter with allegations she had been inappropriately pressured by the prime minister, his office, other ministers and bureaucrats to end the criminal prosecution of Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin.
Wilson-Raybould quit Trudeau’s cabinet over the affair, followed by cabinet ally Jane Philpott. Trudeau eventually kicked both women out of the Liberal caucus and they are now seeking re-election as Independent candidates.
Philpott, who also spoke at the rally, told the crowd that independent voices can make a difference in the House of Commons.
“Do not ever doubt what one person can do,” Philpott said. “We will not be silent and we will not stand down.”
