Jody Wilson-Raybould is the Independent Member of Parliament for the British Columbia riding of Vancouver Granville. She is the author of the new book From Where I Stand: Rebuilding Indigenous Nations for a Stronger Canada, from which this essay has been adapted.
| A central lesson instilled in me from a very young age was to be careful with words because you cannot take them back – you must always speak the truth. This has been a vital teaching and one that has guided me in how I have approached the various roles I have been fortunate to play, including as a Crown prosecutor in Vancouver from 2000 to 2003, as Regional Chief of the Assembly of First Nations for British Columbia from October, 2009, to June, 2015, and as the first Member of Parliament for the riding of Vancouver Granville from October, 2015, to the present. And it guided me when I was subsequently appointed the first Indigenous minister of justice and attorney-general of Canada, from November, 2015, to January, 2019.
| In these roles and others, I have given numerous speeches and lectures. It is not a task I take lightly. It is a privilege, but moreover, it is a responsibility when speaking on matters where there is urgency in people’s lives and when the words you say might have a substantive impact.
|  | | | | Election newsletter - We have a new newsletter called Well-Versed that will jump-start your conversations about the fall federal election. Twice per week, the newsletter will take you through the issues and policies that matter the most. Sign up today. | | | | | | More stories below advertisement | | | 'If smoking a cigarette is like jumping from the 100th floor, using an e-cigarette is certainly like jumping from a lower floor, but which floor? We don’t know."
| | | | Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Try to keep letters to fewer than 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@globeandmail.com
| On Justin Trudeau Apologists for Justin Trudeau pronounce that was then, this is now, or that such behaviour used to be considered not so offensive – though by whom, one could ask.
| | | | | More columns from across The Globe | | | | | |
/arc-anglerfish-tgam-prod-tgam.s3.amazonaws.com/public/XNO4YIQ6MFEADGYERXBUGBONKM.jpg "We have come a long way toward reconciliation. But we are not there yet")
/arc-anglerfish-tgam-prod-tgam.s3.amazonaws.com/public/MBCTMYPWDJE65DEZQ3NYHYNR2Q.jpg "What debt do rich countries owe the ones that’ll get shafted by the climate crisis?")
What debt do rich countries owe the ones that’ll get shafted by the climate crisis? /arc-anglerfish-tgam-prod-tgam.s3.amazonaws.com/public/PFIW6SKPXZAILKXA2QWLNXOZ6U.jpg "Why do people believe the Earth is flat?")
/arc-anglerfish-tgam-prod-tgam.s3.amazonaws.com/public/WLVVDKYVUZETZA72O5CPZTBROU.jpg "Despite his resignation, Alibaba’s Jack Ma will continue to be a force in China")
/arc-anglerfish-tgam-prod-tgam.s3.amazonaws.com/public/643AH2UCQFEK3LFTZ74TNM5OX4.jpg "An underwater cave diver’s lessons for life")
/arc-anglerfish-tgam-prod-tgam.s3.amazonaws.com/public/JN6GCCTQLJGQ7NIV6TGXX64URQ.jpg "Editorial Cartoons for September, 2019")
/arc-anglerfish-tgam-prod-tgam.s3.amazonaws.com/public/EOK4TJT3EVDHJJDQP72Z5W7FSY.jpg "Sept. 21: Should Justin Trudeau have known better when he wore racist makeup? Plus other letters to the editor")
/arc-anglerfish-tgam-prod-tgam.s3.amazonaws.com/public/QUASHHIUDNHC5GUIO6KIR7VXB4.jpg "What Justin Trudeau didn’t answer, and the questions that went unasked")
