Calling for a less partisan approach to politics, Jody Wilson-Raybould announced she would be running as an Independent candidate in the October 2019 federal election.
The former attorney general and first-ever Indigenous cabinet minister made the announcement May 27 at the newly opened Marpole Neighbourhood House in the south end of her Vancouver-Granville riding.
Former Liberal attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould announced Monday she would be running as an independent in her Vancouver-Granville riding. Photo by Dan Toulgoet
“In this reality, there is less room for overt partisanship in our evolving democracy," she said. "Rising to these challenges requires Ottawa to operate more openly and transparently in the spirit of non-partisanship with increased cooperation."
At the same time Wilson-Raybould announced her independent run, former Liberal minister Jane Philpott announced she would also run as an Independent this fall in her Ontario riding of Markham-Stouffville.
Disappointed by the Liberal government’s handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair, the two MPs resigned their cabinet posts earlier this year. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ultimately kicked both women out of the Liberal caucus forcing Wilson-Raybould and Philpott to sit as two of only six members of parliament without party status. Trudeau cited broken trust as the reason for the expulsion of two ministers once seen as central figures in his government.
“As an Independent, I will be truly free to take the guidance of the citizens of Vancouver-Granville and to represent you,” Wilson-Raybould told an audience of supporters, family members and media. “I will not have to try to convince myself that just because this is how it has always been done means it has to continue to be done that way.”
Touching on some of the issues she emphasized in an interview with the Vancouver Courier last week, Wilson-Raybould suggested she was disappointed with some of the Trudeau government’s record.
“Many important initiatives were advanced both locally and nationally, but I wonder what more could have been accomplished on the big issues of our time if it was a less partisan environment,” she said.
“Climate change is the issue of our generation, and we need to move the conversation forward and develop a plan that is non-partisan, multi-generational. One that will survive the life of any government,” Wilson-Raybould later added to exuberant applause from her supporters.
She also spoke of a need for more action on democratic reform and Indigenous reconciliation — two areas, along with an urgent approach to climate change, where Wilson-Raybould said her and Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party, hold similar views.
Since Wilson-Raybould’s expulsion from the Liberal Party, several political observers predicted she would run with the Greens in October, particularly after she attended May’s wedding in April. Following Wilson-Raybould’s announcement, May said she had even asked the Vancouver-area MP if was interested in becoming the leader of the Greens. May said she wasn’t.
But at her announcement, Wilson-Raybould said she saw her “friend and colleague, Elizabeth May, and the Green Party of Canada as natural and necessary allies.” This desire for nonpartisan collaboration extends to all MPs, said Wilson-Raybould.
"To be Independent does not mean you're alone working as one. On the contrary, it means you are committed to working with everyone,” she said.
"I will ensure that you have a strong voice in Ottawa that will work with whichever government is in power, as well as with all MPs no matter their political stripe for the betterment of Vancouver-Granville and our country."
