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Jody Wilson-Raybould battled with a fellow cabinet minister last summer over control of the implementation of sweeping changes that would have been part of an Indigenous rights framework.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Globe on Wednesday, Ms. Wilson-Raybould acknowledged she fought – and eventually lost – a bout with Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett to take jurisdiction over the development of new legislation and policy that would "make the recognition and implementation of rights the basis for all relations between Indigenous Peoples and the federal government moving forward.”
The former attorney-general and justice minister said she believed the framework should be in the hands of the Justice Department, because of its legal expertise.
“I had framework documents, principles, governance toolkit dating back to when I was the regional chief. And a lot of the work that I did with the chiefs across the country then has been informed by successive passages of the years and informed by work that I did as attorney-general of Canada,” Ms. Wilson-Raybould said. “I brought some skills to this place and a deep rooted knowledge of Indigenous issues and it is no secret that I have given a lot of speeches that I think we need to start our relationship with Indigenous people based on the recognition of the rights.”
Ms. Bennett wanted to have broad consultations with Indigenous people before drafting the framework.
“Indigenous partners have made it very clear that any legislation directly affecting their rights must be co-developed in close partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, and not unilaterally in Ottawa,” Ms. Bennett told The Globe in an e-mail Thursday.
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ALBERTA ELECTION UPDATE
The two front-runners in Alberta’s provincial election used the campaign’s only leaders’ debate to cast themselves as champions of new pipelines, with the UCP’s Jason Kenney promising a battle against Ottawa and the NDP’s Rachel Notley arguing that her government’s current path is working.
Thursday night’s debate, ahead of the April 16 election, saw Mr. Kenney and Ms. Notley pick apart each other’s platforms while trading the sort of personal attacks that have come to define the first half of the campaign. Ms. Notley accused Mr. Kenney of being an extreme social conservative who has surrounded himself with bigoted candidates, while Mr. Kenney, in turn, described the New Democratic Party Leader as an ideologue who sold out her province.
Keith Gerein (Edmonton Journal) on the debate: “Thursday night’s Alberta election debate was a lively affair at times, featuring four well-prepared, intelligent party leaders. But it’s hard to see it as a decisive event, with no one delivering that much sought-after but incredibly rare ‘knockout blow.’”
Elise Stolte (Edmonton Journal) on the debate: “Kenney needed to avoid social controversy, act like a leader and bring clarity to some crazy-sounding ideas. He generally succeeded. He hammered his points soundly.”
TODAY’S HEADLINES
Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada will not reopen trade talks with the U.S. to satisfy the demands of congressional Democrats.
A newly released federal document provides a close look at Saudi Arabia’s retaliation against Canada, following criticism by Ms. Freeland on Twitter of the regime’s arrest of women’s rights activists.
The 2019 federal budget was “not a political win” for the Liberals and its deficit plans are dividing Canadians along gender lines, says pollster Nik Nanos based on a survey conducted for The Globe and Mail.
Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government is setting the stage for potential battles with public-sector unions, warning that the province’s debt level is unsustainable and floating the idea of legislated caps on wage hikes.
KPMG, which provided an opinion used by the government of Kathleen Wynne to justify a plan that would reduce electricity bills in Ontario at the expense of future consumers, demanded and received protection from legal liability as a condition of providing that opinion.
Premier John Horgan says the B.C. government will consider “some relief” for those who can’t afford record high gas prices.
British Prime Minister Theresa May is seeking to delay Britain’s departure from the European Union until June 30 as she tries to find a way out of the Brexit deadlock.
At U.S.-Mexico border, federal policy changes are creating a local migrant crisis in a West Texas town.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on car imports from Mexico unless it does more to stop illegal migrants and drug trafficking.
U.S. Attorney-General William Barr defended his handling of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the Russia investigation.
Margaret Wente (The Globe and Mail) on Justin Trudeau and the Daughters of the Vote protest: “To them, Mr. Trudeau no longer represents the politics of youth and change. Now he’s just another old guy who tries to shut women up.”
Shannon Proudfoot (Maclean’s) on the Daughters of the Vote protest: “The Scheer walk-out was dramatic, but on this day, in this context, it was the spectre of Canada’s famously feminist Prime Minister marshalling a rictus grin and addressing a room full of utterly fierce young women—several dozen of them literally turning on him—that was the image that stuck.”
Paul Wells (Maclean’s) on the SNC-Lavalin affair: “What emerges from all the testimony is the impression that a dozen kids from the McGill debating team snuck into the abandoned ruins of Ottawa and started pretending to be the government of Canada. Jody complained to Bill that Elder and Ben were being mean to Jessica. Justin sent Michael but somehow Michael didn’t have the Section 13 ruling Jody had sent to Mathieu. Then it was Christmas and they all went home for a month.”
Kelly McParland (National Post) on Andrew Scheer’s election hopes: “Thus far, the shift in public support for his Conservatives probably derives mainly from disgust at the Liberals rather than affection for the Tories. Some of that may last, but not all of it. Scheer has to produce a reason for people to choose him, other than a desire not to vote Liberal.”
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on USMCA’s ratification: “The new NAFTA. NAFTA 2.0. USMCA. CUSMA. Call it what you will, the trade agreement involving Canada, the United States and Mexico will almost certainly not be ratified this year, if ever.”
Sheema Khan (The Globe and Mail) on Quebec’s religious symbols ban: “First and foremost, the dangerous bill creates two tiers of citizens: those with full rights and opportunities, and those without.”
Doug Saunders (The Globe and Mail) on Brexit: “Say what you will about Brexit, but it has unquestionably been a triumph of effective, measured diplomacy and exhaustive, intelligent planning. Absolutely none of it has been on the British side, mind you.”
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