Roundup: Wilson-Raybould tries to rehabilitate her image

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There were a couple items of note that came up over the weekend, and the first was an op-ed penned by Jody Wilson-Raybould, which called for action in reforming the criminal justice system as a way of addressing systemic racism, but more curiously, offered an insistence that she tried to, but was blocked by “the centre” from doing so. I have questions. The notion that she was prevented from fulfilling one of the tasks assigned to her in her mandate letter by the PMO makes no sense whatsoever, which makes me wonder if the real issue here isn’t one of process.

Why I raise this question was the fact that there was a bunch of reporting about behind-the-scenes clashes between Wilson-Raybould and Carolyn Bennett on Indigenous self-government legislation, and Wilson-Raybould was insistent that they bulldoze ahead using criteria that she insisted on, as she felt that she was the expert in these matters, while Bennett was instead insistent that they continue to consult with Indigenous communities (because let’s face it – every time the government tries any kind of reform of existing laws concerning Indigenous people, it is immediately met with unhappy voices who tell the government to start over with consultations). It seems plausible to me that Wilson-Raybould was attempting to pursue criminal justice reforms in a manner that PMO or PCO raised concerns about. Backing up this theory are the fact that she was unable to manage her own bills as she presented them – for example, there was much fanfare over a bill to fully repeal laws that targeted gay men, but that bill was abandoned and folded into a larger bill, and that larger bill was also abandoned and folded into yet another larger bill before it was passed. She also insisted on specific provisions in the Medical Assistance in Dying legislation which everyone warned her the courts would strike down, and lo and behold, they did, and yet she was insistent. She was insistent upon random alcohol screening legislation that was almost certainly unconstitutional, and would actually make it more likely that police would use it to target Black, Indigenous or other visible minority drivers, and yet she stuck firm. She also convinced the prime minister to have Cabinet vote against the genetic discrimination legislation that came from the Senate, and went so far as to call up provinces that previously had no problem with the bill and beg them to oppose it, even after every single MP in the Chamber outside of Cabinet voted for it. After that passed, said she was going to immediately refer it to the Supreme Court of Canada (and then didn’t, but the Quebec government challenged it after she prompted them to, and that is now before the Supreme Court). So weighing all of these things, I’m sure you can understand why I might be dubious about her claims.

The other item of interest was a revisiting of Jagmeet Singh calling the Bloc House Leader a racist, and beyond people like Gilles Duceppe accusing Singh of “cheap politics,” looking at what happened through a procedural lens, you’ll find that what the Bloc objected to was introducing the motion – not the motion itself. Why? Because the usual practice is to give 48 hours’ notice for any motion so that the Commons isn’t blindsided, hence why introducing a motion without that notice period requires unanimous consent. Singh, as has become usual, introduced the motion as a performative gesture without going through the usual motions, and it’s more than plausible that the Bloc objected on procedural grounds than substantive ones, only to be rewarded by being labelled racists (never mind the fact that their support for Quebec’s Bill 21 on face-coverings may lend more substance to the charge than against it). Nevertheless, had Singh followed proper procedure, which exists for a reason, he may have had better success. Even more to the point, if he hadn’t been so quick to sign away resuming regular sittings, he could have used one of his allotted Supply Days to bring forward such a motion and have a full, formal vote on it after a full day’s debate on the subject. But he gave away that opportunity for the sake of a promise by the prime minister to talk to the premiers about sick leave rather than getting any substantive measure out of it, so he had only himself to blame ultimately.

Good reads:

  • Public health officials in Canada say that the resurgence of cases in the US won’t necessarily happen here because they reopened sooner and faster than we did.
  • Canadian Forces are wrapping up operations in five of the seven long-term care facilities they were deployed to in Ontario.
  • Mexico will resume sending temporary foreign workers to Canada after being given assurances about improved safety procedures.
  • The Conservatives have become even more sceptical of electronic voting for Parliament, and want in-person sittings with amended voting procedures.
  • Éric Grenier crunches the numbers on the endorsements in the Conservative leadership race.
  • Chantal Hébert makes a few trenchant observations about the generational cleavage in the Conservative race.
  • Heather Scoffield points to the immediate need to get childcare up and running in order for the economic recovery to be able to get off the ground.

Odds and ends:

Here is a look at the state of air travel in Canada at the moment, as they figure out how to operate in the pandemic.

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3 thoughts on “Roundup: Wilson-Raybould tries to rehabilitate her image”

  1. Gee, almost like there were lots of other reasons why she might have been shuffled out of the “dream job” she was so spectacularly incompetent at, and she hatched that whole sob story about “her truth” to get revenge on her boss??? Whodathunkit? Not the biased Trudeau-derangement JWR stans in the media who were desperate for a Trump/Watergate North scandal drama to bring him down, that’s for sure!!! Worst hiring decision ever. This pathological narcissist is a malignant recurring virus in her own right. “Let her speak” no let her shut up for once in her life. She let an innocent man rot behind bars while his case collected cobwebs on her desk because she was so focused on her “agenda”: a one-note song of ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME. Hm, is Bob going to have a “teaching moment” and step aside like Ben Mulroney to give her the “dream job” of Ottawa bureau chief? Pathetic simp. Don’t go away mad Jody, just GO AWAY.

  2. Thanks for this summary – we heard so much about her over the last year yet I never found a review like this about her overall lack of effective performance in her job. I remember thinking at the time that Trudeau had been blindsided by the SNCLavelin accusations — he acted initially like he could barely remember what she was talking about, because this dispute had been just part of the long list of problematic issues with her handling of the justice minister portfolio — but I hadn’t seen such a comprehensive listing of all her missteps.

  3. Seems to me this all started when Jody asked for a Native Lawyer from Winnipeg to be appointed to the supreme court and was told “no”. This seems to have thrown her into a hissy fit that spanned a year before leaving. She’s lost her cool as they would say, there is no coming back from that.

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