"Indian" in the Cabinet Quotes

“In these early days, a senior PMO official made a statement in front of the Prime Minister, members of the government, and public servants that has always stuck with me. It would come to mind many times during my years as Minister. "The Prime Minister is your brand. You each serve at his pleasure. You each have a duty to country, and will need to, at some point, speak truth to power." I took this to heart. I wrote it in my notebook with quotations around it. What I did not realize at the time is that I was not expected to take the last sentence seriously.”
― Jody Wilson-Raybould, "Indian" in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power

“I think if I were in his shoes, I would want to impart similar words to the ones spoken by the Prime Minister early on about responsibility. But I know that I would make sure that everyone, including me, lived up to my words. I would ask that those around me warn me if I was not following my own advice. These ideals are consistent with how I was taught to understand leadership – leadership as distinct from power and office. [Taken from audiobook; there may be transcription errors]”
― Jody Wilson-Raybould, "Indian" in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power

“In addition to the pep talks and words of inspiration and hope, we were, as new ministers, also given some strong messages in terms of our roles and responsibilities. This was intended, I think, to instil a bit of fear and caution about ethics, conflict of interest, cabinet secrecy, cabinet solidarity, expectations of preparedness and working hard, and the role of the public service. These were important messages and absolutely necessary. What I did not realize then, but came to appreciate more and more over time, was that all these messages, whether inspirational or intimidating, were expected to be interpreted through the thick filter of partisanship and the desire to retain power. I think the more experienced ministers knew this and simply took it for granted. But some of us newbies, especially me, who had no prior connection to a political party, took these messages at face value. This was clearly a mistake. Partisanship comes first, then everything else. I just did not know it at the time. [Taken from the audiobook; there may be transcription errors.]”
― Jody Wilson-Raybould, "Indian" in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power

“I was pleasantly surprised how open the [Liberal] party was to accepting language regarding the recognition of Indigenous rights, which was how Indigenous peoples had talked about the transformative change that was needed for decades. I realized in hindsight that the Liberal party did not understand what this really meant, or did not care. But at the time the inclusion only reinforced my belief that I was doing the right thing. Later it became clear that what was in the platform did not really matter that much. The platform was simply to get elected. The about-face on electoral reform in 2016 was the first big public indication of this for me.”
― Jody Wilson-Raybould, "Indian" in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power

“Reading today the words I said that night, I cringe. The talk reflects the messages and values I'd always talked about and continue to–good governance, trust, and consensus building, equality and inclusion, and justice for Indigenous peoples. But the speech also reveals how much I had begun playing into the partisan political game and projecting a belief in the image the Liberal party wanted to construct. While I know I sincerely believed and meant every word I spoke at the time–and as I am reminded, everyone in that room did as well–I cringe today because I know it is to a great degree an imaginary and ideal image, and I guess I'm surprised that I ever subscribed to it quite that much. I always felt I would never drink the Kool-Aid. I think it shows how convincing Trudeau was, or perhaps how desperate we all were for hope and a different way of doing politics. [Taken from audiobook; there may be transcription errors.]”
― Jody Wilson-Raybould, "Indian" in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power