"Indian" in the Cabinet

Speaking Truth to Power

By: Jody Wilson-Raybould

Narrated by: Jody Wilson-Raybould

The Number One Best Seller

Finalist for the Writers' Trust Balsillie Prize for Public Policy

A compelling political memoir of leadership and speaking truth to power by one of the most inspiring women of her generation

Jody Wilson-Raybould was raised to be a leader. Inspired by the example of her grandmother, who persevered throughout her life to keep alive the governing traditions of her people, and raised as the daughter of a hereditary chief and Indigenous leader, Wilson-Raybould always knew she would take on leadership roles and responsibilities. She never anticipated, however, that those roles would lead to a journey from her home community of We Wai Kai in British Columbia to Ottawa as Canada’s first Indigenous Minister of Justice and Attorney General in the Cabinet of then newly elected prime minister, Justin Trudeau.

Wilson-Raybould’s experience in Trudeau’s Cabinet reveals important lessons about how we must continue to strengthen our political institutions and culture, and the changes we must make to meet challenges such as racial justice and climate change. As her initial optimism about the possibilities of enacting change while in Cabinet shifted to struggles over inclusivity, deficiencies of political will, and concerns about adherence to core principles of our democracy, Wilson-Raybould stood on principle and, ultimately, resigned. In standing her personal and professional ground and telling the truth in front of the nation, Wilson-Raybould demonstrated the need for greater independence and less partisanship in how we govern.

“Indian” in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power is the story of why Wilson-Raybould got into federal politics, her experience as an Indigenous leader sitting around the Cabinet table, her proudest achievements, the very public SNC-Lavalin affair, and how she got out and moved forward. Now sitting as an Independent Member in Parliament, Wilson-Raybould believes there is a better way to govern and a better way for politics - one that will make a better country for all.

©2021 Jody Wilson-Raybould (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

A great insight into how today’s government in Canada works under the Liberal party

A fabulous listen. My accolades to Ms Wilson-Raybould for informing us all about the inner workings of Canada’s Liberal government

Compelling despite the lack of surprises

Jody’s telling of the SNC events held no real surprises. I, like most Canadians who know the difference between right and wrong was proud of her first standing up for what was right and if Jane for travelling the road with her. However, so ends my agreement with Jody’s beliefs. Jody, despite her education, is naive. She believes that by having our courts hand out sentences based on your race (basically in itself, racism), a perverted and bandaid solution at best, will somehow solve the ills that led to the crimes being committed by the groups most often encountered in our courts. Ridiculous.
Then there’s her blind believe in man made climate change, spouting off the dire predictions of the UN, the source of the scam, as if it were the word of God, like so many others indoctrinated into this mass psychosis.i wonder if it has even occurred to her to find well known real expert scientists in the area of climate, who have spent their lives studying it, opinions. I guess reason will come as the dates of dire predictions keep getting readjusted, Jody and the rest of the climate bedwetters will realize that they are the carbon that the climate jet setters wish to reduce.

Insightful well beyond SNC

I bought and listened to this because I wanted to hear more about what happened with SNC, but I found so much more within. So helpful to hear an Indigenous person’s perspective on Indigenous rights and governance within the context of current Canadian law. Important insights into our political system, as well. Inspiring.

Let her speak!

This book should be mandatory reading for all voters regardless of party affiliation or sympathies. The specific scandals had been revealed before or at least to the extent allowed by the government. The real story and scandal is how a principled and ethical person is ground up and spit out by Ottawa. The recount is highly authentic as read by the author. It took me a while to get used to her reading style, I think it would have been enough if she only read the forward and author's notes.